By the Blood that Binds Us
by VesperLogan12
Summary: Ariella Granger gets her Hogwarts letter five years after Hermione first got her own, but how will she cope starting Hogwarts in one of the Wizarding World's most dangerous times? And is there something her parents are hiding from her? Something to do with the fact strangers seem to think they know her? THIS IS NOT BELLAMIONE.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I didn't think the first chapter was very exciting, so instead, I've written a prologue. Thanks to aleandriamiller for following!  
Please review!**

Hermione was nearly home after a year of having to put up with girls pointing and giggling at her bushy brown hair and her new two front teeth that didn't seem to have stopped growing yet. She still hadn't forgiven her parents for sending her to Redhurst Boarding School for her first school year, but she was very glad that she wasn't being made to go back again next year. She had hated every minute of it, even if she had excelled in all her classes, because all her fellow students had done was tease her relentlessly for being such a goody-two-shoes.

But now, she had something to look forward to. In a few minutes, she would be meeting her baby sister for the very first time. After waiting for four months since first hearing the news, there was no way she could hide her excitement, asking her father everything she could think of about her sister.

"But, Daddy, what happens if she doesn't like me?" she asked worriedly as Pat Granger talked about how she frowned at people she didn't seem to like.

"She's a bit young, sweetheart. She will probably only stare at you, that's what she does to most people. The only two she really smiles at is your mother and I. You used to do it too. Your frown was quite scary. But, there's no need to be upset if she does frown. She doesn't really understand yet. It's probably more that she doesn't recognise them, rather than not liking," he explained.

"Okay, I do hope she likes me though," Hermione replied, feeling a bit better as they turned into their drive.

"Are you ready?" Pat asked his daughter as he slotted the key into the lock of the front door. Hermione nodded, swallowing her nerves as the lock clicked. This was the moment she'd been waiting for.

She quickly pulled off her shoes and put them away neatly before looking around at the home she hadn't been to for the last ten months. Nothing had changed. The walls were still white and decorated with pictures of her and her parents, the staircase was still pristine and the big clock on the wall still ticked loudly. It even smelt the same. It smelt of home.

She waited while her father took his boots off before walking anxiously into the lounge behind him, still a bit concerned what to do if her sister didn't like her.

However, when she saw her mother sitting on the couch and holding a little person dressed all in pink, all nerves were forgotten and she ran over before jumping to sit next to Jean on the sofa and throwing her arms around her neck.

"Mummy!"

"Hey, we missed you, sweetie," Jean said, turning and kissing her daughter on the cheek. Hermione's face fell a bit as she remembered school.

"Me too, the other people weren't very nice to me. I wanted to come home, Mummy. They said I looked like a rabbit because of my teeth and they pulled my hair."

"Oh, I know, honey. We did read your letters and I'm so sorry we had to send you away. If we'd had a choice, we would have kept you here. We'll talk about it later, yes? We'll sort it out when Daddy's looking after this little one."

Hermione nodded, brightening up again. This wasn't the time to talk about school. "Is this her?" She looked down, but all she could see was the sweet, little baby-grow, with the fluffy hood and little piggy ears on top. "Can I see?"

"Yes, of course." She looked down. "Oh dear, it seems she's gone into hiding," Jean laughed, seeing that the hood had slipped down. She moved to push it back and shuffled across slightly to show her eldest the chubby baby nestled in her arms.

Hermione looked down eagerly, her face beaming with joy as she took in the sight of her younger sister. Her smile grew even bigger as the baby's strikingly dark eyes flickered up, looking curiously at her, before her little mouth turned up into a small smile and she started gurgling and fidgeting.

"It seems she likes you," Jean smiled, noticing her daughter's relief. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Yes please!" she cried.

"Well, you have to be gentle. Now, sit up straight." Hermione's face went serious as did as she was told before Jean carefully lowered the baby onto her lap. The bushy haired girl smiled down at her sister.

"Hello," she whispered. The baby giggled and squirmed, making Hermione giggle too.

"What's her name, Mummy?" she asked suddenly, surprised at herself that she had forgotten to ask her father the most important question.

"She's called Ariella. Ariella Granger," Jean replied.

"I like that name. It's pretty."

"Yes, as is Hermione. Now we have two pretty girls in the family," Pat Granger chipped in from behind her, ruffling his daughter's bushy hair.

A small cough came from next to Hermione. "Excuse me?" Jean said in mock offence, raising her eyebrows at her husband.

"Oh yes, of course, I meant three pretty girls," he corrected, giving a cheeky wink to the 5-year-old, who was giggling quietly.

"Thank you," Jean retorted, but even she couldn't keep the smile away now.

However, many miles away, a woman , a witch, was not as happy. With her arms huddled around her, she let a few tears escape as she sat, shivering in the cold, thinking about the little girl who had been taken away from her four months ago.


	2. School Fears

**A/N: I admit, this is probably not the best thing I've ever written, but I've been through it several times and some things still don't seem right. I would really appreciate it if you could tell me if anything doesn't sound right!  
Also, thanks to my good friend SouthKentishTown for helping me with this!**

**11 years later...**

"Mione?" Ariella called, hesitant to disturb her older sister for the third time that day. Hermione could get a little irritable at times.

"Yes, what is it Ariella?" came the fifteen year old's reply. She took that as an invitation to come in, and opened the door into her sister's miraculously pristine bedroom. Hers was never like that; books and boxes piled everywhere, the odd wrapper stuffed under her mattress.

"I was wondering, you never told me what Hogwarts is like," she started. "What happens if I don't like it?"

Sighing, Hermione put down her quill and looked despairingly towards her younger sister. Ariella had received her Hogwarts letter a week ago and hadn't stopped asking questions since. And though she understood her curiosity, she swore her ears were beginning to ache.

However, seeing her sister's nerves beneath her excitement, she turned away from her studies to answer her.

"You're going to love it, Ella, don't worry. It's just a big castle, like the one we went to with mum and dad last summer, except more magical. For example, the portraits on the walls move and talk and the staircases swing round as well. Haven't you read the book I gave you?"

Ariella shook her head sheepishly. "I haven't really had time."

She raised an eyebrow. She knew her sister better than to believe that excuse. "It tells you all about it in there. You should read the bit about the Great Hall. It has this ceiling that's bewitched to look like the sky outside. Some days it's sunny, others, it's stormy. Oh, and the candles that light the hall hang in mid-air–"

"It sounds beautiful," Ariella said, going and sitting on the bed next to her sister. "Maybe I will read that book."

"You should, but it's even more beautiful when you see it for real, Ella."

There was silence for a moment before Ariella spoke again.

"What happens if I don't get put in Gryffindor?" she whispered.

Hermione knew that question was going to come up sooner or later. "I'm sure you will, if that's where you want to be, and even if you don't, then it will be for the best. The sorting hat knows what it is doing, if it puts you in a different house, it will have a very good reason for doing so. I promise you."

"I'm worried though. I mean, what happens if I don't make any friends, or I get lost and end up late and–"

"Ella," Hermione cut through Ariella's panicked babbling. "You will make lots of lovely new friends, and the teachers won't mind if you're late because you got lost for the first few weeks. Trust me. Stop worrying. Everyone goes through this and it always ends up okay. Even if you went to some other senior school then you would still be nervous like this." Hermione was starting to get tired of the endless questions.

"But at least I would have had some friends!" Ariella whined.

"You can go to Blackheath school if you really want, Ella. I'm sure mum and dad would be pleased that you want to be normal. Although, I can't promise people will be so nice to you when your magic shows," she snapped impatiently.

Ariella's face dropped and she felt as though she was going to burst into tears. That wasn't what she wanted. She couldn't be like Hermione, she couldn't just leave Greenwich and London and everyone she had ever known behind. She wanted her old friends to come to Hogwarts with her. Something, she realised, that was impossible. None of her friends were in the least bit magical.

"Look, I don't want you to be upset, but you need to think sensibly," Hermione said and then softened at her sister's hurt look. "You'll be fine at Hogwarts, Ella. You really will, and you'll have me, Ron and Harry looking out for you."

There was a low cough from the doorway, and they both looked up at where Jean Granger was standing, smiling softly at her two girls.

"What are you two having such a deep discussion about, hmm?" she inquired, stepping into the room. "You're not bothering you sister with more school fears, are you, Ella? She's trying to work. This next year is an important one for her."

"But what if I go and everyone hates me and I do really badly? Hermione is so clever and what if everyone expects me to be clever too?"

"For goodness sake, Ella, you are going ridiculously over the top, as usual…" Hermione started, before being cut off by her mum's glare. Hermione rolled her eyes. Her sister was always the drama queen.

"Look, Ella, come here," Jean beckoned, trying to lure her away from Hermione so she could actually get some work done.

The young girl jumped off the bed and went over to her mother.

"At Hogwarts, you will have lots of fun and learn things that we cannot possibly begin to teach you. Amazing things that you would think only existed in fairy tales. I promise that you don't need to worry. Hermione will look after you, won't you, Hun?"

"That's what I've already told her," Hermione chipped in from the bed in the corner.

"Good, now we won't have any more tears, Ella, will we? You're going to get your wand tomorrow. Won't that be exciting?"

Ariella nodded and wiped her tears away. She might not be Hermione, but she wasn't going to let Hogwarts and its magic intimidate her. She was going to enjoy it, no matter what happened. A slight smile rose to her lips.

"Thanks, I think I feel a bit better now. I might go read that book, I don't want to be the only one who doesn't know anything. Thanks Mione."

Hermione smiled and shrugged, picking up her quill again as Ariella left the room.

"Thanks for putting up with her, sweetheart. I know you're trying to work." Jean came and sat on the bed next to her daughter.

"I said all that, but I don't know whether she will be alright with You-Know-Who back. This year could be tough. We don't know what could happen."

"Is that that wizard who turned bad? The one who killed Harry's parents?" Concern crept into her voice. Hermione noticed, and duly nodded. Jean seemed slightly uneasy for a second, before brushing it away and continuing with a sigh. "Just keep an eye on Ariella for me, will you? If this wizard does come for Harry, then make sure you and Ariella are safe."

"You know that I could never abandon my friends." She looked up at her mother, but the woman's grey eyes held the same stubbornness she saw so often in Ariella, and even in herself. She placed a hand on Jean's arm. "I'd never let them hurt Ariella, mum. But I don't think you should worry too much, he's not likely to come to Hogwarts, Dumbledore is the only wizard he is afraid of."

"I am not saying that, I'm just asking you to be safe." Jean planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I love you both. I can't lose you."

"I love you too mum, and you won't lose me, or Ariella. I promise."

"Thank you." She gave Hermione one more kiss before leaving the room, shutting the door softly behind her. She was so proud of her daughters. Both witches and both invited to go to a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had always known there was something special with her girls.


	3. Mr Ollivander's

**A/N: I won't be updating as frequently as I have been doing from now on, but I had this one written already. **

**Also, please review! I really would like to know what you guys think? Is it worth carrying on, or is nobody enjoying it?**

Two girls, witches, turned off of the main road and into a small, dirty-looking pub. At a first glance, they looked almost entirely unrelated, an older girl, taller, thicker, with a bundle of bushy brown hair swept back into a long ponytail alongside a short, wiry girl with almost platinum blonde curls, but no one was really paying much attention as they walked through and went out the back door. The only one was Tom, the barkeeper, who immediately recognised the elder one as Hermione Granger of the Golden Trio, and gave her a small smile as she walked past.

"Ready, Ella?" Hermione asked as they stood before the wall out the back of the Leaky Cauldron.

"I think so," the younger girl replied, covering up her nerves. She had never been to Diagon Alley before. When her parents had gone with Hermione, she had always stayed behind. It wasn't that she wanted to, for she had desperately wanted to see the amazing things they had all described when they came back, but, however much she had begged them to let her go they had always said no and taken her round to her Aunt Alice's house until they came back. She shuddered at the memory. To think she would never have to put up with Aunt Alice's crockery collection again!

And now, when she got her wand... she'd daydreamed half the holiday about turning those hideous pansy print plates into owls, or toads. Ariella trembled slightly from excitement. This was the moment she had been waiting for.

Her left hand absent-mindedly reached out for her mother's, but instead grasped thin air. Her excitement soured slightly. They had never really given a proper explanation for abandoning her to Aunt Alice, and then, this time, they weren't even coming. Their own daughter was getting her first wand and they weren't even coming with her, Ariella thought. They were too busy meeting 'friends'.

Hermione sensed her sister's resentment, and gave her other hand a friendly squeeze. "Don't be angry with mum and dad, Ells, I'm sure they would rather have come with us than be forced to listen to one of Mr Norton's talks about rabbits."

She giggled slightly, and then remembered that she was supposed to be being serious. "I suppose. I guess they couldn't have told them that they wanted to go shopping with their daughter to buy her first wand," Ariella added a sigh for emphasis.

"No, I'd have hardly thought they'd believe them if they told them that," Hermione said and started tapping her wand against the bricks.

"What are you doing?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Hermione grinned as she tapped once more on the bricks.

Ariella gazed on, open mouthed, as the bricks quivered and then seemed to slide into one another, slowly creating an archway. On the other side of this archway, however, was an amazing sight. There was a narrow, cobbled street, crammed with people in jewel coloured cloaks and robes scuttling in and out of shops that stood crookedly, just how she'd imagined the Tudor era to be. The air was filled with the chatter of old and young and almost seemed to smell of magic and excitement.

"Wow," was all Ariella could get out.

"It's pretty impressive, isn't it?" Hermione laughed, watching her sister's reaction.

"Yeah…"

"Come on, we've a lot of things to get. You didn't forget that list, did you?"

"No, it's in my pocket," Ariella assured her older sister.

"Good, now, wand first?"

"Yes!" Ariella's eyes lit up with excitement. Having a wand would convince her that it wasn't all a dream. That she really was a witch, like her sister.

* * *

"Here we are," Hermione said, stopping outside an old, dusty shop. _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._, read the sign swinging in the breeze and the peeling, gold lettering above the door. In the window, a single, dark wood wand lay on a faded purple cushion.

Stepping into the shop, Ariella marvelled at the shelves and shelves of dusty boxes. The shop smelt musty, yet, the atmosphere thrummed and buzzed with magic, even more than it had done outside. Probably all the wands tucked away in the thousands of boxes, Ariella thought to herself as she gazed round.

"Ah, Hermione Granger, I take it your wand is still in full working order?" said an old man, stepping out from the shadows.

"Yes, thank you, Mr Ollivander."

"Vine, dragon heartstring, nine inches, am I correct?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded.

"Well, I never forget a single wand I've sold." He turned to where Ariella was marvelling at a broom sweeping itself across the floor. "And I haven't sold you one. What can I do for you?" Mr Ollivander asked.

"My sister, Ariella, is here for a wand, please." Hermione nudged Ariella, and she spun around to face the elderly wizard.

He froze, his eyes lingering on her face for a few more moments than someone normally would, before he finally spoke.

"Ah, Ariella, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr Ollivander," she replied with a smile, confused as to why he had stared at her so worriedly. She just tried to shake it off as his old age.

"Put your wand arm out," he instructed.

"Writing hand," Hermione whispered. Ariella nodded and put out her right arm.

But her jaw dropped open as, instead of Mr Ollivander taking measurements, a tape measure rose off the counter and began to take them by itself as Mr Ollivander took note of the numbers.

"Now, shall we see…" he moved to the shelves, running his finger over the boxes before shaking his head and climbing a ladder to reach a stack on the next shelf up. "Ah, yes."

He stepped down and gave the box to Ariella.

"Ten and a quarter inches, willow, dragon heartstring, good for charm work."

Ariella picked up the wand, admiring the soft pale sheen of the wood.

"Give it a wave," Mr Ollivander instructed.

She did so and jerked as a pile of papers shot everywhere.

"I should think not," Mr Ollivander stated and snatched the wand back before going back to examine the piles of boxes. Ariella waited, feeling a little shaken at what she had done. She certainly hadn't been expecting that to happen.

"Now, let's see. Hmm, yes, what about this one? Excellent for transfiguration, yew and unicorn hair. Ten inches." He handed the wand over, but before Ariella could so much as raise it, Mr Ollivander grabbed it back again.

"Good, God, definitely not!" he cried and went back to searching.

"Hmm, this one maybe? Here, try it. Nine and three quarter inches, ebony, phoenix feather. Bendy, but strong."

This one was different to the others as soon as Ariella touched it. A warmth seemed to spread through her fingers to her body and when she gave it a wave, small white fireworks showered from the end. It seemed to be in unity with her. It was the one.

"Strange, that's a good one for the trickier spells and curses, especially in transfiguration. Wouldn't have thought it would be for a first wand, but there we are. The wand chooses the wizard, or witch in your case. Seven galleons if you please."

Hermione reached into her bag and gave the shiny, golden galleons to him before Mr Ollivander cleaned up the box and handed it to Ariella.

"Thank you very much," she called as they left the shop and caught Mr Ollivander's answering smile just as the door swung shut.


	4. Ron

**A/N: Thanks to Byga Kruga and blondewolf1 for following/favouriting. Please let me know what you think so far! I haven't had any reviews, yet over 100 views! :(**

Hermione had to drag her sister away from all the windows displaying brooms, cauldrons and all sorts of other magical objects as they walked down Diagon Alley, but she could remember her and her parents being exactly the same on their first visit. They had wanted to see everything. It had all been so strange, so new, and it had taken them hours to get everything she had needed.

"Robes next? Hermione asked, taking the list from her sister.

"Yes please," Ariella answered, still gazing at the shiny new brooms displayed in Broomstix. "Where do we go for those?"

"Madam Malkin's. It's just around the corner here."

"Alright."

This shop was spotlessly clean, unlike Olivander's had been. Robes of all different colours and sizes hung from racks all over the room. There was a whole corner of black ones that Ariella supposed were the Hogwarts' robes, but before Ariella could move over to them, Hermione called out.

"Hello? Madam Malkin?"

"Ah, Hermione what can I help you with?" asked a plump lady dressed all in mauve, hurrying out from behind a rack. Ariella assumed she must be Madam Malkin.

"My sister is starting Hogwarts and–"

Hermione didn't need to say any more, Madam Malkin knew exactly what she was doing as soon as Hermione had said Hogwarts. She turned to Ariella and stopped short.

"Have you been here before? You seem familiar," Madam Malkin inquired, narrowing her eyes at the young girl.

"Um, no, this is my first time to Diagon Alley," Ariella replied, frowning. Mr Ollivander had been startled when he first saw her and now Madam Malkin too. What was going on?

She shrugged. "Ah, well, Miss Granger, if you'd come here and be measured please."

This time Ariella wasn't shocked when the tape measure starting measuring her by itself, but it still looked strange, as she was just so used to muggle things.

"Right, I'll just be a minute. Could you just step on this stool please, dear," Madam Malkin asked. Ariella did as she was told whilst Madam Malkin bustled off to find a robe.

"After this, we'll go fetch our books from Flourish and Blotts, alright?" Hermione told her sister.

"Yes," said Ariella excitedly, thinking about all the wonderful spells she could research in there. Then she realised this would be a good time to bring up the unusual glances she kept getting. "Mione," she started slowly. "Why does everyone seem to recognise me here? Mr Ollivander did the same what Madam Malkin just did, except he never said anything. He just looked at me strangely."

Her sister frowned, biting her lip thoughtfully. "I'm sure they just recognised you because of me, perhaps we just look alike?" she suggested, but Ariella wasn't convinced. Everyone had always told her that they look nothing alike at all. Her hair was platinum blonde, nothing like the rest of the Granger's mousy brown hair, and her eyes were dark and mysterious, again, nothing like her family's hazel ones. Her mum had told her that she took after her grandma, one who had died before she was born, so how could she be being recognised because of her likeness to her sibling? She shrugged it off, instead letting her thoughts wander back to the amazing sights she had seen outside.

"Can we look around after Flourish and Blotts? I want to see the sweet shop and try some of those Bertie Bob's Every-Flavour Beans."

"You mean Bertie _Botts_ Every-Flavour Beans, and yes, but only if we have time. Also, don't say I didn't warn you that they mean every flavour. Not only is there strawberry, toffee, cola and apple, but chicken, sprouts and I think Ron said he had an earwax flavoured one once."

"Ew! Earwax?" Ariella cried, shocked.

That made Hermione laugh. "Harry told me that Dumbledore was put off by them because he had a vomit flavoured one in his youth."

"Ew!" Ariella repeated.

But before she could ask any more questions, Madam Malkin came back with a robe and a pot of pins.

"Here, pull this over your head, would you, dear?" she said, passing Ariella the robe.

Ariella obliged at once, with a little help from Hermione to find the arm holes.

"Now, let me see… the sleeves are a little too long. Perhaps we'll just take them up a bit…" Madam Malkin pondered allowed, examining Ariella.

"I'll just step outside till you're done. I don't want to be in the way" Hermione said, and stepped out of the shop, leaving her sister to endure the pin sticking alone.

* * *

After paying Madam Malkin for the robes, the cloak and the hat, they headed to Flourish and Blotts for their books. Ariella got out the list.

"That's a lot of books isn't it?" she asked, seeing that there were about ten listed.

"Yes, well, you need a book for each subject. The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection Theory is for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Magical Drafts and Potions is obviously Potions, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi is Herbology. I'm sure you can guess what the rest are for."

"Oh, right."

"Hermione!" Ariella heard someone call, and looked round. "Hermione!" She looked at her sister, who still hadn't heard her name.

"Mione," she said, tapping her sister on the shoulder. "I think someone's calling your name."

"What?" Hermione looked round. "Oh, Ron!"

"Finally, Hermione. I've been calling you for ages!"

"Sorry. How are you? I haven't heard anything from you all summer!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I know, we've been a bit busy. Who is this?" he asked, indicating to Ariella.

"That's Ariella, my sister," Hermione answered before Ariella had a chance to speak.

"Ah, of course. It's nice to meet you at last, Ariella."

"Please, just Ella. I've heard so much about you."

"You have?" Ron looked confused, making Ariella giggle.

"Yes, Mione talks about you and Harry _all _the time," Ariella said mischievously, her eyes glinting. "She tells me about all your adventures and everything. It sounds so much fun!"

"Hermione?" Ron asked, only to see Hermione blushing furiously. "Is this true?"

"She–"

"Shut up, Ariella!" Hermione shouted, making Ron and Ariella laugh even more.

"You'd get on well with my sister, Ginny. You know, you should come and stay with us for the rest of the holidays, Hermione. We're not at the Burrow. I can't say any more on the street, but I'll come and collect you two tomorrow with Fred and George if you want. I'll send Pig and you can tell me if you can or can't come."

"Only if your Mum is alright with it. We wouldn't want to be a burden."

"You know my Mum, she'll be pleased to see you. If you can come, we'll be there at five tomorrow, is that alright?"

"That sounds like fun!" Ariella exclaimed, earning her a dirty look from Hermione.

"We'll have to ask our parents first," Hermione butted in, still glaring at Ariella. "But otherwise, that sounds good, thanks Ron. We best be off now, we still have a lot to do. I'll hopefully see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, alright. See ya," Ron grinned.

Hermione smiled at him before walking into the book shop. Ariella turned to follow her, but not before winking at Ron, who laughed and shook his head before walking away.


	5. Confusing Muggle Contraptions

**A/N: Thanks to MilliePrue-BellatrixLestrange, DHKroeger18, , Skylar97, Moon Lantern and the guest for reviewing/favouriting/following. Your response has made me feel a lot more confident about posting this story!  
I am aware this chapter is not my best, but I hate filler chapters! Anyway, please review! :)**

It took them the rest of the day to find everything they needed and look around, but both were still full of energy as they knocked on the door of their house, hands full of all sorts of strangely shaped packages. Jean was the one who opened the door, laughing as they tried to get through the door with all their new things, but eventually helped them to put all their shopping on the kitchen table.

"Mum, Ron asked if Ella and I want to go to his for the rest of the holiday. He's sending an owl later today," Hermione explained as soon as they were done, praying that her Mum would say yes.

"And when would this be?" Jean asked, not so sure about it. Didn't Ariella want them to be there when she boarded the train? She had never been away from home for such a long period of time before.

"Ron said he'd come over and collect us tomorrow at five."

She gave in. "Alright, you can go if you want to, but are you sure Ariella wants to? Doesn't she want us to wave her off at the station?"

"Ella! Do you want to come to Ron's with me tomorrow?" Hermione called up the stairs, ignoring her Mum as she rolled her eyes.

There was the sound of running footsteps as Ella bounded down the steps two at a time and came to a halt in front of Jean.

"Please let me go Mum," she begged.

"Don't you want us there to wave you off?"

"I do, but I want to go with Hermione and see how wizards live before I go. You could meet us at the station and that way we both get what we want, because I really do want you there," she reasoned. "I love you both, it's just I'm growing up now and I don't want to miss out on this. Plus, it will give me some friends higher up in the school." She paused a moment, then, seeing that Jean wasn't convinced, made puppy eyes at her Mum and added "Please, Mum."

She couldn't argue with that, Jean thought. No matter how much she wanted her youngest to stay with her. She was different to Hermione. Hermione was very quiet and studious and had been very much the goody-two-shoes in her earlier years. Ariella on the other hand was dependent and stubborn and not at all quiet. However, they did have one thing in common, and that was their strong-will and courage to stand up for what they believed in.

"Alright, but your father and I will meet you at the station on the first, at quarter to eleven, okay?" Jean said, turning serious again.

"Yes! Thank you, Mum!" Ariella cried and hugged her Mum tightly.

"It's alright. Now, why don't you and Hermione go and pack and I'll sort out dinner, you must be hungry after your shopping trip, and, don't forget, before you pack, let me see you in your new robes."

Ariella rolled her eyes. "I'm not a baby anymore, Mum."

"I know, sweetheart, but we need a picture of Ella on her first day of secondary school, don't we? God, I remember when you were a baby. Big set of lungs on you then. Wouldn't stop crying and screaming, would you? You woke the whole house up countless times."

"Mu-um!" Ella whined, and charged back up the stairs, completely embarrassed. She hated it when her Mum talked about her as a baby.

"Don't forget, I want to see those robes!"

"Yeah, well give me a chance to get into my room first!"

Jean winced at the slam of a door and walked back into the kitchen.

* * *

The next day, it was all settled, Ron, Fred and George were going to come and collect the two sisters at five. Ariella was very excited, jumping round the house all day and completely wearing her parents down to the ground.

"Ariella, will you stop dancing round the room. I know you're excited, but you're making me feel exhausted just looking at you!" Jean cried finally, and Ariella sat down, but that didn't stop her from fidgeting. Jean looked at her husband, Pat, and they both sighed and rolled their eyes. Once Ariella was excited, she just wouldn't stop moving around, no matter what anyone told her.

Jean looked at the clock. Five to five. Only five minutes before they were due to leave.

"Girls, why don't you get your coats and shoes on, the Weasley's will be here in a minute. You don't want them to be waiting for you," she told her daughters.

"Yes, come on, Ella. I don't want all of us to be waiting for you. That will embarrassing," Hermione said.

"You won't be waiting for me," Ariella sang happily. "I'm so excited!"

"We know," the rest of her family sighed at the same time.

"You've told us that a million times in the last hour," Hermione explained at Ariella's confused expression.

"Sorry, I can't help being excited," she said, a little hurt.

"We know sweetheart, you could just be a little more considerate towards the rest of the house whilst you're jumping around and making a racket, that's all."

"Oh, I didn't realise, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, my dear. It's not every day one goes to a wizard's house for the first time, is it?" Jean comforted, sensing that Ariella was upset.

Just then, the doorbell rang, which was shortly followed by Ron's voice shouting:

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Then it lowered as he spoke to what could only be his brothers. "Do you think it worked? How do we know? Do we have to do anything else? These muggle contraptions are so confusing!"

Hermione and Ariella had to stifle their giggles as Hermione opened the door.

"Yes, Ron, it did work," was the first thing she said to him.

"And a doorbell is not confusing," Ariella added from further down the hall. "All you had to do was press a button and it makes a noise."

"Yeah, but how does it do that? I mean…" Ron trailed off.

"Come on, Ron, they'll answer questions when we get back," George said impatiently. "Mum is expecting us any second."

"How are we getting there?" Ariella asked curiously. If they were going to be there any second, what way could they possibly travel to wherever they were going so quickly?

"Side-along apparition. We both passed our tests in the summer," Fred replied. "It's a bit uncomfortable, but it's the quickest way. Are you ready?"

"Yes," Hermione said as her parents walked out from the living room.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Granger," Ron greeted politely.

"Hello Ron, how are you?" Jean replied.

"Um fine thanks."

"Mum, we need to go now. Stop asking Ron awkward questions!" Hermione complained, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, sorry, dear," Jean replied, smirking a little. "Ella, have you got everything? Books, robes, wand?"

"Yes, Mum, you went over this last night!" Ella whinged, her turn to be angry with her Mum.

"Well, I'll see you soon? Remember to write us a letter."

"I will, goodbye, Mum." Ariella gave her parents a hug and went over to where Ron and the twins were waiting at the doorstep."

"Goodbye!" Hermione called before Fred took hold of her hand and George took Ariella's and Ron's and they disappeared with a loud crack.


	6. 12 Grimmauld Place

**A/N: Thanks to Moon Lantern, Croonsgirl, DHKroeger18, Chicagoman58312 and MilliePue-BellatrixLestrange for favouriting/following/reviewing!  
Please let me know what you think of this chapter! And, regarding Bellatrix, there will only be little hints about her until she breaks out of Azkaban, then she'll be in it a bit more :)**

When they landed, they were in some sort of wooded area, surrounded by trees on all sides except one, where there was a tall, iron fence, leading out onto a row of grey, and rather dull looking terrace houses.

It took them a minute to get over the dizziness of apparating, before they stumbled out onto the street.

"I don't feel very well," Ariella muttered, clutching her stomach.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while. It's taken us years," George told her. "You could always have one of our puking pastels if you want to, you know, get it out?"

"She'll be alright, I think George," Hermione told him promptly and pulled Ariella away. "Where are we anyway?"

"The Order's Headquarters. 12 Grimmauld Place," Ron answered.

"But, there is no 12, for Goodness sake, Ronald! Are you blind?"

"Are you stupid? We're wizards–"

Suddenly, the houses started to rumble and shake, slowly moving apart to reveal another house and making the group jump.

"How did you–" Ron started to ask, but soon realised it wasn't any of his friends when he saw they were all staring at the row of houses in shock. Instead, he rephrased the question. "How did it open on its own? Mum was supposed to meet us out here when she got back from Diagon Alley!"

Before anyone could answer, the houses stopped rattling and the door to 12 Grimmauld Place opened.

"What are you all doing standing out here, gawping?" Alastor Moody's voice came from the doorway, his magical eye whizzing round at them all. It unnerved Ariella, who had never seen Moody in her life, and she clung to Hermione's arm.

"Who's that?" she whispered.

"Professor Moody!" Ron cried, answering Ariella's question.

"Mrs Weasley was supposed to meet us out here, but she hasn't arrived yet," Hermione explained.

"I see. Well, don't stand out there, go in. I just need to pop out for a few hours. Tell your mother that I'll be back for the meeting this evening."

"Okay, I will."

With that, Moody disapparated, leaving Ariella staring at the spot he had disappeared from.

"What was that?"

"What we just did, he disapparated," Hermione answered. "Come on, we need to go in before the houses move back again."

Ariella nervously followed her sister into the house, clutching at her arm as they passed through the narrow hallway, with the old wallpaper peeling off the walls and the people in the crooked portraits glaring at them.

"What is this place?" she whispered, as they passed a portrait which promptly attempted to spit at them.

"I'm not sure. It obviously belonged to some a dark wizarding family. I'll ask Ron later," Hermione answered.

"I'm not sure I want to know. I don't like it here."

"Well, you were the one who wanted to come to a wizard's house."

Stepping through the doorway at the end of the hall, Hermione was greeted with hugs from Mr Weasley, Sirius and Lupin.

"And this must be Ariella?" Lupin asked when all three men had stepped back. "Remus Lupin, nice to meet you."

"You too," Ariella said shyly. "But you can call me Ella."

"This is Sirius and Mr Weasley," Hermione introduced, pointing at the dark and ginger haired wizards in turn.

"Ron, do you want to take the girls up to their new room and let them get settled in? I'm sure they want to unpack before dinner and your mother will be home shortly," Mr Weasley said after everyone had been introduced.

"We'll take your bags," Fred and George offered, and without any answer picked up the suitcases and disapparated with a loud pop.

"They're driving your mother mad with all their magic," Mr Weasley commented, staring at the spot the twins had just been standing in, shaking his head.

"Alright, come on. I'll show you round the house." Ron said, heading out of the room and up the stairs.

"Ron, what is this place exactly?" Hermione called up after him as they passed several creepy looking house elves, their eyes following them from the glass tubes they were in, as they walked up the stairs.

"Sirius' childhood home. He inherited it from his parents because, as you know, his brother died."

"No wonder it's so creepy. The Blacks are very traditional. I suppose these house elves were a tradition too."

"It's disgusting," Ariella commented, wrinkling her nose. "Who would do that to house elves?"

"The Black's," Hermione and Ron both answered at once.

"One thing you will learn when you get to Hogwarts is that pureblood families tend to end up in Slytherin because they think they are better than half-bloods and muggle-borns like us. They think of us as inferior because our blood isn't as 'pure' as theirs," Hermione explained at Ariella's confused look.

"Right."

At the top of the staircase, Ron took them into a small, dark room. The dim lights only emitted enough light to see the outline of all the furniture so they couldn't bump into anything and they could just about make out two beds, a wardrobe and a dressing table with what looked like a mirror perched on top.

"What took you so long?" came a voice from the bed. Looking over, Ariella saw two shadows sitting on one of the beds.

"Oh, shut up. Just because you can use magic–"

"You're starting to sound like Mum, Ronnie-kins," the other shadow interrupted. Ron just glared at them. "Well, we'll leave you two to unpack, come on Fred."

Once more there was a loud crack and both shadows disappeared.

"Well, I'll leave you too. I'm just across the hall if you need anything," Ron told them and walked out of the room, leaving the two sister's to unpack their things.


	7. Harry

**A/N: Thanks to Moon Lantern, DHKroeger18, daydreamerkid and WizardChaser3163 for reviewing/favouriting!  
Please review!**

Weeks passed and yet, every single day, there seemed to be something new in the house that Ariella hadn't seen before. It had amazed her to see the pots on the stove cooking and stirring themselves and several times it had made her jump when a portrait had started talking to her. Then, Mrs Weasley had started them on cleaning the house. They found doxys and puffskeins and goodness knows what else in that house. Nothing that Ariella had heard of though. In fact, there was so many creatures that they were still cleaning when Mrs Weasley came to inform them that Harry was going to arrive that evening.

"Some members of the Order are going–" before Mrs Weasley could finish, Ron butted in.

"Which members?" Not being allowed in the meetings, everyone was always curious as to who was actually in the Order.

Mrs Weasley sighed and reeled the names off, counting on her fingers. "Alastor, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley, Elphias, Dedalus, Emmeline, Sturgis and Hestia are all going to fetch Harry tonight. You've all heard about his trial and I'm sure that you all want the opportunity to reply to his letters first hand, so yes, before you ask, you may all wait up for him. However, there will be a meeting going on, so you will have to wait for him in your rooms. Is that clear?"

There came a chorus of "Yes, Mrs Weasley" and "Thank you Mum" from the witches and wizards in the room, but it was Ariella and Ginny who were the most excited. Ariella had never met Harry before, although she had heard everything about him from Hermione when she was talking about Hogwarts.

"Good, well get on with clearing out the cupboard. Remember, don't touch anything without your gloves on. You don't know what those items are and they could be dangerous," Mrs Weasley warned them. "I'm going to go and make dinner; the others want it before they leave to go and collect Harry later."

With that, she bustled out again, leaving them to get on with the mysterious cabinet. It seemed to be never-ending, packed with trinkets and boxes galore. Once, Fred opened one of them, curious to see if there was anything that would do for his and George's Skiving Snack box, only for it to emit an ear-splitting screech that had everyone clapping their hands over their ears. He shut it rather quickly and didn't dare open anything else after that. They had enough supplies to be going on with, and they had Mundungus to supply them with anything else they needed. It wasn't as though they didn't have enough money after Harry's kindness with his Triwizard winnings.

As soon as they had finished clearing out the cabinet, they just had time to wash all the dirt and dust off before Mrs Weasley called them down for dinner.

The topic was all about Harry while they were eating. The Hogwarts' students were all curious to know how they were going to get Harry out of Privet Drive without the Dursleys finding out. It caused a few laughs when they were told that the Dursleys had been sent to an imaginary best kept lawn competition, courtesy of Tonks.

"That's brilliant!" laughed Ron, making Tonks hair turn a pinky red out of embarrassment from the praise.

"Come on, go upstairs and occupy yourselves, we need to get ready for the meeting down here," Mrs Weasley chivvied them up, shooing them out of the kitchen as soon as their plates were empty. "Remember to stay in your rooms, you're not allowed down here once the meeting starts."

"Yes, Mum," Ron replied rolling his eyes and getting up from the table.

"Good, now shoo." Mrs Weasley immediately turned away, waving her wand at all the empty plates which then moved themselves over to the sink to form a neat pile, ready to be washed.

Ron, Hermione and Ariella returned to Ron's room so they could greet Harry the minute he stepped through the door. There was no doubt that he wouldn't be angry. Dumbledore had forbidden them to say anything about the wizarding world in their replies. They would just have to explain. They had wanted to. They had wanted to warn him that the Daily Prophet was making out that Harry and Dumbledore were telling lies about You-Know-Who, they had wanted to assure him that He wasn't making any moves yet. Yet, all they could talk about was how their summer was going and what was happening in Little Whinging. If it was frustrating for them, they couldn't even begin to imagine how frustrating it was for Harry.

In one very shocking letter, Harry had told them he and Dudley had been attacked by Dementors and having to use the patronus charm to save them, only to find that he received a letter saying he had been expelled from Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione and Sirius had all received letters and it hadn't taken long for the rest of the house to find out.

12 Grimmauld Place had been disgusted at the Ministry, but there was nothing they could do but get Harry a trial to prove his innocence and then go fetch him. Of course, Hermione had spent every spare minute pouring over books, trying to find proof that there was no way he could be expelled. She had, obviously, found there was an exception when a wizard was in danger.

However, when Harry finally arrived, they were so engrossed in their conversation about when he would get there, that they never heard him until the door was opened. Hermione jumped off the bed and launched herself at him the moment his black hair was visible in the room, hugging him so tightly that he could barely breathe.

"HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how _are _you? Are you alright? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless – but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh , we've got so much to tell you, and you've got things to tell us – the Dementors! When we heard – and that Ministry hearing – it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's a provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations–"

"Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron, grinning as he closed the door behind Harry.

Still beaming, Hermione let go of him and stepped back.

"Who's this?" Harry asked, indicating to Ariella, who was standing awkwardly by Ron's bed, feeling as though she shouldn't be there as the three greeted each other.

"This is my sister, Ariella. Remember I told you about her?" Hermione introduced. "She's starting Hogwarts this year."

"Two witches in the family?" Harry asked. "Your parents must have been shocked!"

"I was shocked, I mean, two witches in a muggle family? I thought she must have mistaken it as a letter for me at first! But my parents, I don't know, I think they were shocked, but not as shocked as I thought they would be, maybe it was just they were so used to me being a witch?"

"I've heard so much about you," Ariella said quietly, stepping out of the shadows. "Mione never shuts up when she's at home." She smiled cheekily as her sister made a noise of protest.

"It's nice to know we're not the only ones who get it. It's nice to meet you, Ariella," Harry replied.

"Just call me Ella," she said, shaking Harry's hand when he offered it.


	8. The Trial

**A/N: I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, but I'm really busy now I'm back at school :( and I also have a show coming up in three weeks :S. Anyway, thanks to Moon Lantern and DHKroeger18 for reviewing the last chapter :)**

The day of the trial was a stressful one. Everybody in 12 Grimmauld Place was tense and snapping at each other. Mrs Weasley was especially tense. She had been up since about 5am, getting Harry and Mr Weasley ready to leave and, even though Sirius, Lupin and Tonks had been up too, Molly had worn herself out completely with all her fretting.

There was no meeting today, and all anyone could do was wait for news from Harry and Mr Weasley. But wherever Ron, Hermione, Ariella and Ginny went, it seemed they were in the way and had one or other of the adults yelling at them. Eventually, they gave up and just went up to the girls' room where they stayed until Mrs Weasley came hurrying into their room to tell them Harry had arrived back.

At that point, all four had got up and charged past Mrs Weasley in an attempt to beat the each other down there, leaving the witch standing in the doorway, before she too rushed down the steps, anxious to hear the result.

"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air. "You always get away with stuff!"

"They were bound to clear you," said Hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when they had entered the kitchen and seen Harry and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes. "There was no case against you, none at all."

"Everyone seems quite relieved though, considering you knew I'd get off," said Harry, smiling.

"You have no idea how tense it's been around here," Ariella interjected, watching as Fred, George and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went: _"He got off, he got off, he got off…"_

"That's enough! Settle down!" Mr Weasley shouted, although he too was smiling. "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry–"

"What?" said Sirius sharply.

_"He got off, he got off, he got off…"_

"Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on Level Nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know."

"Absolutely," said Sirius. "We'll tell him, don't worry."

"Well, I'd better get going, there's a vomiting toilet waiting for me in Bethnal Green. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner—"

_"He got off, he got off, he got off…"_

"That's enough—Fred—George—Ginny!" said Mrs Weasley, as Mr Weasley left the kitchen. "Harry, dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast."

Ron, Ariella and Hermione sat themselves down opposite him, looking happier than they had done since he had first arrived at Grimmauld Place. Ariella was just glad because it meant all the tension had left the house and she wouldn't be yelled at for getting in the way. The others were more happy about the fact their friend would be coming back to Hogwarts with them.

"Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," said Ron happily, now dishing great mounds of mashed potato on to everyone's plates.

"Yeah, he swung it for me," said Harry. Ariella saw his grin falter slightly but she just took it as he was tired. She couldn't imagine how stressful and nerve-racking it must have been for him. Then he suddenly clamped his hand to his forehead and let out a little groan, making her jump.

"What's up?" said Hermione, looking alarmed.

"Scar," Harry mumbled. "But it's nothing… it happens all the time now…"

None of the others had noticed a thing; all of them were now helping themselves to food while gloating over Harry's narrow escape; Fred, George and Ginny were still singing. Hermione looked rather anxious, but before she could say anything, Ron had said happily, "I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening, to celebrate with us, you know."

"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron," said Mrs Weasley, setting a huge plate of roast chicken down in front of Harry. "He's really very busy at the moment."

_"HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF—"_

"SHUT UP!" roared Mrs Weasley.

The three immediately fell silent, Fred and George glaring at their mother. Then they spotted Harry's chicken.

"How come he gets all that?" George asked.

"When we only get this," Fred finished, gesturing to their plates with nowhere near half the amount of meat on them.

"Harry's had a stressful day," snapped Mrs Weasley. "And if you two are going to be so rude, then I suggest you cook yourselves next time!"

"Ooh, somebody's stressy," George muttered, rolling his eyes, but Mrs Weasley had already gone back to the oven to fetch more food and luckily, she didn't seem to hear.

The rest of the meal passed in near silence, apart from the rare question from the twins about the courtroom and Cornelius Fudge and the occasional request for someone to pass a dish over. Ariella hadn't dared to say anything after Mrs Weasley had started shouting. She couldn't wait until 3rd September when she could start school and get away from the woman that partly terrified her. She only had twenty one days left, but she had a feeling they were going to be the longest three weeks of her life.

**Please let me know what you think! The more people I know are liking this, the quicker I am likely to update as I like to please people! :D**


	9. Platform Nine and Three Quarters

**A/N: Thanks to crystal3108, Moon Lantern and DHKroeger18 for following/reviewing! **

When the 3rd September finally came around, Ariella was so excited that she found herself wide awake at five o'clock in the morning. The trouble was, no matter how hard she tried, she could not get back to sleep again. She kept thinking about her new school about the fact next time she went to sleep she would be in a dormitory in a huge castle with the girls she was going to be going to be sharing a room with for the next seven years of her life or that tomorrow she would be doing her first ever lessons in magic.

Eventually, she got up, no longer able to contain her excitement. She decided that maybe she would get a head start in getting ready as she really didn't want all the others to be waiting for her. So, getting out her brush from her nearly packed trunk and creeping into the bathroom, she set about untangling her curls that had become rather knotted with all her tossing and turning in the night.

About quarter of an hour later, she had managed to get her curls to lie how she wanted them, but she sincerely hoped that there was some kind of spell that she could use that would make it a bit easier and quicker in the future and made a mental note to ask Hermione when she woke up.

She didn't have to wait long for, as she walked back into the dark room to put her brush away, she suddenly tripped and went sprawling over the floor, wincing when her brush landed with a loud clatter next to her.

Hermione shot up in bed. "What was that? Who's there?" There was the sound of scrabbling. "Lumos!" A bright light it up the room. "Ella? What on Earth are you doing on the floor?"

"I'm sorry, I was trying not to wake you, but I tripped. I couldn't sleep, so I got up."

Hermione sighed. "What is the time?"

"About six o-clock? I can't see the clock," Ariella replied, getting up from the floor.

Hermione groaned and laid back down, covering her head with her pillow. "Couldn't you have been more careful?"

"Sorry."

"I'm going back to sleep. Try not to trip over again please."

"Alright, sorry." She tiptoed back over to her bed.

* * *

However, a few hours later, the whole house was thrown into chaos. Mrs Weasley was up, ordering people to do this, that and the other, and Hermione was desperately trying to find Crookshanks so they wouldn't be late because of her. On top of this, the rest of the household were running around like yoyos, trying to please Mrs Weasley and get themselves ready. The only people that hadn't emerged from their room were Ron and Harry and no doubt the bossy woman would be up their banging on their door sooner or later.

Then, Fred and George decided that it would be a good idea to bewitch their cases. Ariella watched curiously as the two cast the spell and their trunks began to move down the stairs, getting faster and faster until they were hurtling down so fast that they could have knocked someone down several flights of steps. And then they did. A surprised cry came from a couple of staircases down, followed by a scream and the sound of something tumbling. Immediately, Ariella ran down to find the source of the noise, worried that someone had got hurt. Fred and George disapparated with a pop, knowing they were bound to be in trouble, whatever had happened.

However, she was only down two flights of stairs when she heard Mrs Weasley shouting and stopped short.

"Ginny! Ginny, are you alright? What happened?" There was a few seconds where Ginny spoke before Mrs Weasley's voice filled the house again. "Fred! George! Get down here immediately!"

Ariella didn't go any further. She didn't want to be involved in this. Instead, she slowly went to make her way back upstairs to her room. Perhaps she could check through her luggage again to check she hadn't forgotten anything?

But, even with the bedroom door shut, Mrs Weasley's yelling could still be heard. Although, now, it was also joined in with Mrs Back's portrait screaming at the top of her voice.

"–FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHER'S–"

"–COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS–"

She got up to look out the door, trying to ignore all the shouting, when Hermione's footsteps thundered down the corridor.

"Ella! Mum and Dad have replied to our letter, they're meeting us just outside the platform at quarter to eleven. I'm just going to give Harry Hedwig back. We really should get our own owl, maybe I'll ask Mum and Dad for my birthday or something." She barely stopped as she ran past the door, only pausing momentarily to throw Ariella the letter.

Bending down to pick it up, Ariella quickly scanned it and stored it away in her trunk. Secretly, she was quite glad that her parents were coming to wave her off, but, of course, no one else had to know that.

"Will you lot get down here now, please!" Mrs Weasley bellowed, making Ariella jump, then Hermione ran in again.

"Come on, bring your case down. We need to go," she ordered, offering no help before hurrying out of the room again.

As Ariella dragged her trunk downstairs, she could still hear Mrs Black's portrait howling with rage, but nobody was bothering to close the curtains over her; all the noise in the hall was bound to rouse her again anyway.

"Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks," shouted Mrs Weasley over the repeated screeches of – "MUDBLOODS! SCUM! CREATURES OF DIRT!" – "Leave your luggage and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage. The same goes for you too, Ariella, except you'll be going with Arthur, Ron and Hermione… oh for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said _no_!"

A bear-like black dog had appeared at Harry's side as he was clambering over the various trunks cluttering the hall to get to Mrs Weasley.

"Oh honestly…" said Mrs Weasley despairingly. "Well, on your own head be it!"

She wrenched open the door and stepped out into the weak September sunlight. Harry and the dog followed her. The door slammed behind them, leaving Ariella, Ron, Hermione, Alastor and Arthur to clear up the mess they had left behind.

"We're going by muggle transport, so we'll just wait a few minutes before we set off," Mr Weasley explained, attempting to close the curtains of Mrs Black's portrait. "Alastor will take the luggage after us… Will one of you help me shut these curtains please?"

Ron stepped forward and eventually, after a few minutes of tugging, both men managed to pull them closed, cutting off Mrs Blacks' screeches.

* * *

Ten minutes later, they arrived at Kings Cross station and headed to Platform Nine and Ten. It didn't take Ariella long to spot her parents standing on Platform Nine, anxiously watching out for them. She ran over and threw her arms around Jean in a tight hug.

"It was so cool staying with the Weasleys, Mum! The stuff they have is so clever. Mrs Weasley had the dinner cooking itself and they had this clock with them that told them where each member of their family was and everything!"

"You don't sound as if you've missed us at all," Pat chuckled.

"I have!" Ariella insisted. "But it was just so different to being at home."

"Well, I'm glad you've had a good time. Did you get our letter?"

"Yes," Hermione answered, walking over to her parents. "We did. It arrived this morning."

"Just in time then. Shall we go through to the platform now?" Jean said as Mr Weasley and Ron joined them.

"This is the one where you have to walk through the barriers, yes?" Ariella asked nervously.

"Yes, you don't need to worry though. Mrs Weasley says it's best if you do it at a run if you're nervous," Hermione said before walking into the wall and disappearing. Ron and Mr Weasley followed.

"Go on, Ella. You go next. We'll follow."

Ariella swallowed and looked nervously at the wall before she started running. Just as she was about to collide with it, she closed her eyes tightly.

When she opened them again, she was met with an amazing sight. She was no longer in the King's Cross she knew. Instead, there was one platform and next to it stood a gleaming scarlet engine; the nameplate across the front bearing the words 'Hogwarts Express'. She couldn't help but smile. She'd done it!

Turning round, she saw her parents had come through behind her.

"Come on then, let's go find your sister and get your luggage," Jean said, taking hold of her daughter's hand and leading her through the crowds of departing students and their families.

Soon, she was all settled and ready to board the train. She looked up at the huge clock towering over the platform. It was two minutes to eleven.

"You'd better get on now, honey," Pat said, hugging Ariella before letting his wife say goodbye.

"Write to us," Jean told her before releasing her daughter and watching her go up the steps and into the carriage. "They've both grown up so fast," she murmured to her husband.

"I know." He slipped his arm around her waist as Ariella appeared at the window and waved frantically as the train began to move off.

"Goodbye!" the blonde haired girl called out of the window.

"Have fun!" Jean called back.

Both parents watched and waved until the train was out of sight.

**A/N: Please let me know what you think of this chapter!**


	10. Train Journey

**A/N: Thanks to twibe and Skylar97 for reviewing/following!**

Ariella stepped back from the window as soon as the platform was out of sight. This was it, she was on her way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at last.

"Shall we go find a compartment then?" Harry asked, jolting Ariella out of her thoughts and back to reality.

Ron and her sister exchanged looks.

"Err," Ron said.

"We're – well – Ron and I are supposed to into the prefect carriage," Hermione said awkwardly.

Ron wasn't looking at anyone; he seemed to have become intensely interested in the fingernails on his left hand.

"Oh," said Harry. "Right. Fine. Shall we go, Ariella, Ginny?"

"I don't think we'll have to stay there the whole journey," interjected Hermione quickly. "Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."

"Fine," said Harry again. "Well, we – we might see you later then."

Ariella could feel the discomfort of all three and stepped back slightly, not wanting to get involved.

"Yeah, definitely," said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry. "It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather – but we have to – I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy," he finished defiantly, confusing Ariella. Who was Percy?

"I know you're not," said Harry, and then, to everyone's relief, he grinned. But as Hermione and Ron dragged their trunks, Crookshanks and a caged Pigwidgeon off towards the engine end of the train, Ariella saw Harry gaze lingering after them and didn't know what to do. Instead, she looked at Ginny, who had been very quiet whilst the three had talked.

"Come on," she said. "If we get a move on, we'll be able to save them places."

"Right," said Harry.

Ariella said nothing and picked up her trunk before struggling down the corridor after Ginny, who was peering through the glass-panelled doors into the compartments, all of which were already full.

In the very last carriage, they met a boy who both Ginny and Harry clearly knew very well. He was a tall boy, tall and lanky, with a round, beaming face and a head full of earthy brown hair. He was trying to pull his case along with one hand, his other clutched a struggling toad.

"Hi Harry," he panted. "Hi, Ginny… everywhere's full… and I can't find a seat… "

"Hi, how–" Harry didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as Ginny had squeezed past Neville and made a noise of protest.

"What are you talking about?" she said, peering into the next compartment. "There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here–"

The boy mumbled something about not wanting to disturb anyone.

"Don't be silly," Ginny said, laughing. "She's alright. Come on, Ella."

She slid the door open and pulled her trunk inside before helping Ariella with hers. Harry and Neville followed.

"Hi Luna," said Ginny. "Is it okay if we take these seats?"

The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist length, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. Ariella knew at once why the boy had chosen to pass this compartment by. The girl gave off an aura of dottiness. Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of corks, or that she was reading a magazine upside down. Her eyes ranged over the boy and Ariella and then went to rest on Harry. She nodded.

"Thanks," Ginny said smiling at her.

Harry and the boy stowed the four trunks and Hedwig's cage in the luggage rack and sat down. Luna watched them over her upside-down magazine, which was called The Quibbler. She did not seem to need to blink as much as normal humans. She stared and stared at Harry, who had taken the seat opposite her.

"Had a good summer, Luna?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off Harry. "Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. You're Harry Potter," she added. The boy with the toad chuckled. "And I don't know who you are."

"I'm nobody," he said hurriedly, smile gone.

"No you're not," said Ginny sharply. "Neville Longbottom - Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw."

Neville Longbottom. The name cast familiarity into Ariella's mind. Neville. Hermione had spoken of him before, she was sure of it. Wait, wasn't he the boy Hermione had used that body-bind curse on in her first year? Yes, it was definitely him, she thought, not noticing that she was still staring until Neville sensed her gaze and looked over.

"Who's this, Harry?" he asked.

Harry looked startle for a moment. "Oh, yes, I forgot. This is Hermione's sister, Ariella."

"Oh. Well, it's nice to meet you, Ariella."

"You too," the young girl smiled, feeling rather embarrassed that she'd been caught staring and turned to look out the window.

The train rattled onwards, speeding them out into open country. It was an odd, unsettled sort of day; one moment the carriage was full of sunlight and the next they were passing beneath ominously grey clouds. Ron and Hermione did not turn up for nearly an hour, by which time the food trolley had already gone by. Ariella had been treated to Pumpkin Pastries and had been given a dozen Chocolate frog cards to start her own collection. She was just admiring the beautiful Dark Witch, Morgana, when the compartment door slid open and the new Gryffindor prefects walked in, accompanied by Crookshanks and a shrilly hooting Pigwidgeon in his cage.

"I'm starving," said Ron, stowing Pigwidgeon next to Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself into the seat next to him. He ripped open the wrapper, bit off the frog's head and leaned back with his eyes closed as though he had had a very exhausting morning.

"Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each house," said Hermione, looking thoroughly disgruntled as she took her seat. "Boy and girl from each."

"And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" said Ron, still with his eyes closed.

"Malfoy," replied Harry. Ariella had no idea who they were talking about and went back to the window, blocking out their voices.

Only, a few minutes later, everyone suddenly burst out laughing, making Ariella look away from the scenery. They were all in hysterics, but nobody was laughing harder than Luna Lovegood. She let out a scream of mirth that caused Hedwig to wake up and flap her wings indignantly and Crookshanks to leap up into the luggage rack, hissing. Luna laughed so hard her magazine slipped out of her grasp, slid down her legs and on to the floor.

"That was funny!"

Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped for breath, staring at Ron. Utterly nonplussed, he looked around at the others, who were now laughing at the expression on Ron's face and at the ludicrously prolonged laughter of Luna Lovegood, who was rocking backwards and forwards, clutching her sides.

"Are you taking the mickey?" said Ron, frowning at her.

"Baboon's . . . backside!" she choked, holding her ribs.

There was an awkward silence as Luna finally stopped laughing, yet still breathless as she picked up her dropped magazine. It only lasted a second, however, before the compartment door opened for the third time.

There, stood in the doorway was a snooty looking boy with sleek, white blonde hair and two large, ugly boys by his side. Ariella swallowed nervously. Whoever they were, they didn't look very friendly. However, before the boy could open his mouth, Harry spoke.

"What?" he said aggressively.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," the boy drawled, sending shivers up Ariella's spine. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," said Harry. "But you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone."

Ariella gasped, but Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville laughed. The boy's lip curled.

"Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?" he asked.

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Hermione sharply. So this was the Malfoy boy Harry had mentioned earlier, Ariella thought.

"I seem to have touched a nerve," said Malfoy, smirking, then turned his gaze to Ariella. The young girl saw his slight frown. "And who is this?"

Ariella curled up to her sister, not liking this _Malfoy's_ attention.

"Mini-Mudblood?" he asked curiously, causing an uproar of protest from the carriage.

"Don't you dare call my sister that!" Hermione shouted, standing up. "Get out!"

Sniggering, Malfoy gave Ariella a last malicious look and departed, with the two boys lumbering along in his wake. Hermione slammed the compartment door behind them.

"What's a Mudblood?" Ariella asked.

"A foul word for a muggle born. He knows he should not have said that," Hermione hissed.

"Like a swear word?"

"Yes, very much like a swear word, probably worse really."

The weather remained undecided as they travelled further and farther north. Rain spattered the windows in a half-hearted way, then the sun put in a feeble appearance before clouds drifted over it once more. When darkness fell and lamps came on inside the carriages, Luna rolled up The Quibbler, put it carefully away in her bag and took to staring at everyone in the compartment instead.

"We'd better change," said Hermione at last, and all of them opened their trunks with difficulty and pulled on their school robes. She and Ron pinned their prefect badges carefully to their chests.

At last, the train began to slow down and they heard the usual racket up and down it as everybody scrambled to get their luggage and pets assembled, ready to get on. As Ron and Hermione were supposed to supervise all this, they disappeared from the carriage again, leaving Ariella and the others to look after Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon.

"I'll carry that owl, if you like," said Luna to Harry, reaching out for Pigwidgeon as Neville stowed his toad carefully in an inside pocket.

"Oh - err - thanks," said Harry, handing her the cage and hoisting Hedwig's more securely into his arms.

They shuffled out of the compartment feeling the first sting of the night air on their faces as they joined the crowd in the corridor. Slowly, they moved towards the doors.

As they stepped out, Ariella heard a brisk female voice, calling out, "First-years line up over here, please! All first-years to me!"

"Go, Ella. You can't take your luggage on the boat, we'll take it for you," Ginny said, ushering her towards a short, plump woman with a green pointed hat on her head.

Ariella swallowed nervously and soon found herself surrounded by several other anxious looking students. And then, finally, as they moved off and walked round a bend, Ariella got her first view of the many dark turrets of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

**A/N: Please review! :)**


	11. The Sorting - Part 1

**A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating, my laptop broke and I nearly lost everything and then, when I got it back, it didn't have microsoft office uploaded or anything so I had to wait for my Dad to get round to it. Anyway, I hope this makes up for it! Please let me know what you think!  
Also, thanks to Svetlyachochek, Moon Lantern, potterhead and twibe for reviewing/favouriting/following :)**

"It's pretty impressive, isn't it," came a voice from beside her. Ariella span round. There, behind her, stood a girl with auburn curls, freckles splayed out across her cheeks and hazel eyes glittering with excitement. "I'm Lottie Hill, what's your name?"

"Ariella Granger." She gave the girl a smile.

"Wait… are you Hermione Granger's sister?"

"Yes." Ariella was confused. "How do you know my sister?"

"Oh, I don't know her personally, my Mum reads the Daily Prophet."

"The Daily what?" Ariella asked. It seemed there were a few things Hermione hadn't told her about the Wizarding World.

"Oh, of course, you're a muggle-born. I'm a half-blood. My Mum is a witch, but my Dad is a muggle. Anyway, the Daily Prophet is the Wizarding World's newspaper. There's about an article a week about that Harry Potter and obviously, your sister's name get mentioned often. I don't know whether I trust him though. I mean, can You-Know-Who really be back?"

"I trust him because I know He is back. My sister trusts Harry and I do too. I mean, how did that boy die if it wasn't Him that did it?"

"Cedric? Apparently it was a tragic accident. That's what the Daily Prophet said."

"Newspapers can lie you know. Even in the muggle world they lie," Ariella retorted, getting a bit fed up with the girl's clear adoration of the Daily Prophet.

"I suppose you're right. I only believe it because my Mum said it was true. I'm sorry if I offended you," Lottie said sincerely.

Ariella smiled a little. "No, it's alright. I suppose I'm going to have to get used to people badmouthing my friends. Do you know anyone here?"

"Yes, my cousin is called Neville Longbottom. He's in Fifth Year. His Dad is my Mum's brother. We meet up regularly."

"Oh, I sat with him on the train. He's friends with Harry."

"Yes, he is. He's so clumsy, bless him."

Before Ariella could reply, the people in front of her slowed to a halt and the woman's voice rang out. "Everybody in the boats. No more than four in each one!"

Boats? Ariella thought. Why were there boats? However, it became clearer as everybody immediately rushed to get seats with their friends. A huge black lake stretched out before them, leading straight up to the castle. Ariella felt Lottie tugging on her hand.

"Come on. We want to be together. There's barely any room left," she said, scanning the boats. "Look, there's one!"

She pulled Ariella over to a boat already occupied with two boys and sat down, making her new friend sit down too.

"Alright, everybody in?" came the teacher's booming voice. She didn't wait for a reply. "Forward!" she ordered the boats, which immediately started to glide across the seemingly flat lake.

Neither Lottie nor Ariella said anything as the boats moved slowly along the water, heading towards the castle towering above them. They were both just staring at their surroundings in awe. Both had been told what Hogwarts looked like, but no words could describe what lay before them. Even the air seemed to be shimmering with magic.

When the plump woman announced that they were to get off, nerves had started to creep over the first years, especially Ariella. The castle looked daunting and her earlier fears were coming back to haunt her. Hermione was just so clever and Ariella knew that the teachers would be checking to see if she was as talented.

"Are you alright?" Lottie whispered as they neared the huge, oak front door after scrambling up a rocky passageway and across an immaculate green verge.

"Just a little nervous."

"Same here. I wonder what we'll have to do to be sorted. I hope it's not a test on spells. My Mum tried testing me on them and I couldn't even remember the names, let alone what they did!"

Ariella could sense Lottie starting to panic. "Don't worry," she said, in an attempt to calm her. "It's nothing like that. Hermione told me what you have to do."

"But what happens if it changes every year?"

"It doesn't. You have to sit on a stool and there is a talking hat that sorts you into the correct house." Ariella saw relief wash over her friends face.

"Really, is that it? I thought it would be something bigger than that. Oh, thank goodness. I do hope I'm in Gryffindor, although I wouldn't mind Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. I'm probably not clever enough for that though. What house do you want to be in?"

"Hopefully Gryffindor, but I won't mind anything other than Slytherin."

"Yeah, me too."

Just then, the doors opened and the crowd of first-years walked in and were greeted by a tall, stern looking woman who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she started as though she was about to launch into a very well-rehearsed speech, obviously something she said every year. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in our house dormitories and spend free time in your house common room.

'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Syltherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

'The Sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourself up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you."

In front of the whole school? Hermione had never said it was in front of the _whole_ _school_, Ariella panicked as she tried to neaten up her curls. She was just brushing down her robes when Professor McGonagall came back.

"Now form a line please, we're ready for you," she ordered.

Ariella squeezed in behind Lottie as they walked into the Great Hall. The first thing she looked at was the ceiling, remembering what Hermione had told her and what she had read. It was hard to believe that it was actually a ceiling and not the real sky. Thousands of glittering stars were twinkling in the velvety blackness and the moon was shining brightly down, just above where the teachers were sat at a long table. In front of them, Professor McGonagall placed a stool and what Ariella assumed was the Sorting Hat on top.

She stared at it in shock. It was nothing like she'd imagined, it was old and worn, fraying at the edges. She'd imagined it being blue, decorated with white moons and stars, like the one Mickey Mouse wore. Something new and sophisticated. However, she was so focused on what it looked like, that she didn't notice when a huge rip opened up at the brim and it started to sing. She did, however, catch the last few lines, the lines that seemed to shock the entire school.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
The warning history shows,  
For our Hogwarts is in danger  
From external, deadly foes  
And we must unite inside her  
Or we'll crumble from within  
I have told you, I have warned you..  
Let the sorting now begin.

A small round of applause broke out, but there were many mutterings and whispering going on between the students and the staff. Eventually, the hall fell silent and Professor McGonagall stood up with a list of what Ariella assumed were the names of the first years.

"Abercrombie, Euan!" she called and a terrified-looking boy with large, sticky out ears stumbled up to the stool. Ariella watched as Professor McGonagall lifted up the hat, let the boy sit down and then placed it on his head. Each of the first-years held their breath as the Sorting Hat didn't move, until suddenly, the wide brim opened and it shouted: "Gryffindor!"

The table to the far left burst into applause as the boy went over, looking giddy with relief. The next name to be called was Elyse Ackerman, who was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw, followed by a boy she didn't catch the name of being put into Gryffindor, Arden Chapman into Slytherin and Adam Dale into Ravenclaw. At that point, Ariella phased out, scanning the Gryffindor table for her sister. She finally spotted her bushy hair in the middle of the table. Hermione turned as though she felt Ariella's gaze on her and gave the young girl a reassuring smile. Ariella returned it, but her attention went back to Professor McGonagall as she called out the next name.

"Granger, Ariella!"

Ariella started. Was it really her already? Had she been distracted that much that she had missed all names under E and F, possible D and G too?

"Good luck," whispered Lottie from her side as she gave her a little push forward.

Ariella could feel all eyes on her as she walked up and sat down on the stool. When Professor McGonagall lowered the hat onto her head, it fell so low that she couldn't see anything.

"Hmm," said the hat, making Ariella jump. "What have we here? A Hufflepuff? No, I don't think that's quite right. You're loyal, but not quite kind enough." Ariella blinked. She hoped the whole school couldn't hear what it was saying. "You could fit into Ravenclaw, you have the wit, but there's something telling me that you wouldn't fit in there… Wait, what's this? Hmm, no, I don't think you're like her at all, or him. No, it had better be…"


	12. The Sorting - Part 2

**A/N: Thanks to SJ Iolanthe, the guest, Michi the Mischievious, The Scottish Girl, Gruffard, lua sollo, Vivien Lestrange, WildDragon26621, Starsnowfairy, GoodNaughtyGirl, rosiehorgan7, Moon Lantern, rissan23 and DHKroeger18 for reviewing, favouriting, following. I got such a big response and I just want to thank you so much!**  
**Just a little note as it came up a couple of times, THIS IS NOT BELLAMIONE. I don't have any experience in that area. It just includes the characters Hermione, Bellatrix and OC.**

"Gryffindor!"

Ariella smiled giddily with relief and put the hat carefully back on the stool as she stood up. Although she was confused. Who were the 'her' and 'him' that hat had talked about? Presumably, they had been in Slytherin , whoever they were and Ariella didn't know anyone who had been in Slytherin.

She pushed it from her mind as she sat down next to the dark haired boy Ariella had missed the name of and watched as Pegasus Hancock was sorted into Slytherin.

"Hill, Charlotte!" came Professor McGonagall's loud Scottish accent as the Slytherin's applause died down.

She saw Lottie stir and look straight at her with wide eyes. Ariella suddenly realised that Charlotte Hill was Lottie's full name and mouthed her a 'good luck' before she went up to the stool. The hat was dropped onto her head, but it had barely touched it when the brim opened up and shouted "Gryffindor!"

The table she was sat on burst into a round of clapping and Ariella joined in as her friend came and sat next to her.

"I'm so relieved that's over. It took ages before the hat sorted you. There was silence for about a minute before it shouted Gryffindor," Lottie said.

"Oh, but it was speaking all the time, didn't you hear it?"

"No, perhaps it just spoke to you in your head. What did it say?"

"It was just going through each of the houses, I think it was having trouble trying to place me. But, then, it also said something about me not being like 'her' or 'him'. This was when it was thinking about Slytherin. I… I just don't understand it, I don't know anyone that's been in Slytherin."

"Oh, that is strange. Maybe it was mistaken."

"Mm." Ariella wasn't convinced, but she couldn't think of any explanation, so let it go, turning to finish watching the sorting.

Finally, when Rose Zeller had been sorted into Hufflepuff and Professor McGonagall had removed the hat and stool, a man with a long white beard and half-moon spectacles perched on his nose stood up from the centre of the table. Ariella took this to be Professor Dumbledore. Her new Headmaster.

"To our newcomers," he said in a ringing voice, his arms outstretched and a beaming smile on his lips. "Welcome! To our old hands – welcome back! There is a time for speechmaking, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly, but Ariella and the rest of the first-years were no longer watching him, instead, their eyes were fixed on the feast on the tables, that had just appeared out of nowhere in front of their very eyes. The five long tables were full of vegetables, pies, soups, sauces, nearly every food imaginable and there were several flagons of an orange liquid that Ariella later found out were pumpkin juice.

The Hall was filled with the sound of clattering knives and forks and chatter as everyone tucked in, hungry after the long journey. However, as she was filling up her plate, she noticed that the boy next to her wasn't eating at all. He was just sat there, staring sadly at his plate.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, making him jump about a foot in the air.

"Yeah."

"Didn't you want to be in Gryffindor?" Ariella pressed, not convinced by his one word answer.

"My parents, my parents were in Slytherin. They expected me to be in it too. I can't be in Gryffindor." Then he added in a whisper. "They're bad wizards."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, I mean, it's only a house. I'm Ella Granger by the way, what's your name?"

"Arcturus Avery." He waited a moment, as if expecting a bad reaction. "You don't know who my parents are, do you? You're a muggle-born, right? Hermione's sister?"

"Yes, but what does that matter?"

"It doesn't, but have you heard of You-Know-Who? Surely your sister mentioned him?"

"Yes, he's the wizard who turned bad, the most evil wizard there has ever been, isn't he?" Ariella answered, starting to feel a little nervous.

"Yes, well, my father is a Death Eater, one of You-Know-Who's followers. My mother, although not a Death Eater, still approves of his aims. They already think of me as a failure because I refuse to believe what they believe. When they find out I'm in Gryffindor, they'll kill me! They want me to follow in my father's footsteps and the Dark Lord only accepts Slytherins. Not that I want to be a Death Eater," he added hastily. "But it would have given me a few more years to find a way to escape."

"Why can't you lie? Tell them you're in Slytherin, how would they be able to find out that what you told them isn't true?"

"You see the Professor with the greasy black hair, the one sitting next to Professor McGonagall?" He pointed at the long table and Ariella spotted the man straight away. "Well that's Professor Snape. He's friends with my parents. There's no doubt he'll be glad to gloat about the fact I'm in Gryffindor."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She was starting to see the seriousness of this situation. Hermione had told her that some purebloods were extremely strict, some refused to let them even talk to muggle-borns. "Your parents wouldn't be happy that you're talking to me, would they?"

"No," he admitted. "They wouldn't. In fact, you should probably stay away from me. If they found out you were talking to me, they'd probably…" He trailed off as though he thought that what he was about to say might upset her.

"What? Tell me, Arcturus."

"They've done it before, two years ago. A little muggle girl. She was only asking for me to help find her mother. My parents saw me talking to her and they… well, they just… killed her."

"Like that? Just because she talked to you?" Ariella was horrified.

"Ella, they think muggle-borns are worse. They'd say you've tainted me and then kill you. It wouldn't matter that I spoke back. I mean, I'd still be punished, but they'd blame you."

Ariella chanced a glance at the teacher's table and found the coal-black eyes of Professor Snape on them. She quickly turned away.

"It doesn't matter that Professor Snape knows, does it?" she asked worriedly.

"No, strangely enough, Snape is not that averse to muggle-borns. He wouldn't want to be responsible for a pupil's death probably."

Just as Ariella was about to answer, the hall went quiet and she turned to find that Dumbledore had stood up.

**A/N:  
SJ Iolanthe: I had already written the chapter before you reviewed so I hope you don't mind the outcome! ;)**


	13. New Friends

**A/N: This is in no way my best chapter, and a lot is taken from the books, so I apologise in advance. But still let me know what you think!  
Also, thanks to Lazerraider, DdrrPepper, SJ Iolanthe, DHKroeger18, Moon Lantern, rosiehorgan7, Devarios and the guest for reviewing/favouriting/following! I am so happy people are enjoying this!**

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," Dumbledore started. "First-years ought to know that the Forbidden Forest is out-of-bounds to students – and a few of the older students ought to know by now, too."

'Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Filch's office door.

'We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubby-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a round of polite, but fairly unenthusiastic applause before Dumbledore carried on.

"Tryouts for the new Quidditch teams will take place on the–"

No one realised why Dumbledore had broken off until a small 'hem, hem' came from the corner where Professor Umbridge, a small lady dressed from head to foot in fluffy pink, stood up.

Dumbledore looked taken aback for only a moment before he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbrige as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not so adept at hiding their surprise, making Ariella think that maybe it wasn't a normal thing to interrupt the Headmaster's speech.

"Thank you, Headmaster," she simpered. "For those kind words of welcome." Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish. Ariella found herself disliking her already. "Hem, hem, well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me."

Ariella looked around to see no one was smiling. In fact, it looked like half of them, including herself, were very annoyed at being spoken to like they were five-year-olds.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll all be _very _good friends."

Ariella pulled a face of disgust at this, making Lottie burst into a fit of giggles. Further along the table, more girlish giggling could be heard before Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again and continued.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down to the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching. Hem, hem. Every Headmaster and Headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be no stagnation and decay. There again, progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be restrained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effective-ness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be pre-served, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Ariella noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held…"

Ariella stopped listening, she was only a first year, Harry had been the only one to make the team whilst in his first year. Instead, Ariella gazed round at the Hall, spotting her sister whispering something rapidly to Ron and Harry. She was so engrossed in trying to lip read what her sister was saying that she jumped when Lottie nudged her and told her that they had been dismissed.

"Hey – hey, you lot! Midgets!" she heard Ron calling and pulled Lottie and Arcturus towards him, all the while glaring at him for calling them midgets.

"I'm not that small," she said indignantly as Hermione called to the rest of the first-years.

"Sorry, Ella. You lot just look so tiny. I could swear we weren't that small when we were first-years."

Ariella turned away from him in a playful huff, only to see Harry walk away, glancing sadly at Euan and another boy, who were cowering away from him. She caught his gaze and gave him a reassuring smile before frowning at the two boys.

"Come on, Ella, is it okay to call you that?" Lottie asked.

"Yes, I would prefer it actually," she replied and followed her sister and Ron out of the Great Hall and up several flights of stairs. Several flights of stairs that seemed to keep moving.

"Is it just me seeing things, or did that staircase above us just swing round?" Lottie asked.

"No, I think I read about it somewhere in 'Hogwarts: A History'. We're going to have to be careful they don't swing when we're on it!" Arcturus put in as they reached a huge portrait of a very large lady.

"_Minmbulus mimbletonia,_" Hermione said, and the portrait swung open to reveal a hole in the wall in which they all clambered through. "This is the Gryffindor Common Room. To get in, you tell the Fat Lady the password and she will swing open for you. This is where you can spend your free time. Your luggage will be in your dormitories. Girls, this is the way to yours, boys, yours is to the left."

The ten students split up and headed each set of stairs to their dormitories, feeling rather tired. But when the five girls opened the door to their room, they got the shock of their lives. Five magnificent four poster beds, downed in red and gold, stood waiting for them. Each had a pile of luggage and trunks beside it and a dark wooden chest of drawers.

"Wow," Ariella said, finding her own bed. "I never thought they'd be so…"

"Amazing?" said a girl with very dark hair as she looked around the room in wonder.

"Yeah…"

"I'm Evangeline by the way. Evangeline Wood. But I'd prefer it if you called me Eva. Why don't we all introduce ourselves seeing as though we're all going to be sharing a dorm for the next seven years?"

"Alright," Ariella said. "I'm Ariella Granger, but I go by Ella."

"I'm Charlotte Hill, but everybody always calls me Lottie."

"It seems as though I'm the only one who goes by my full name, which is Scarlet Fairchild," put in a girl with short, dirty blonde hair from over the other side of the room.

"Not quite, Esme can't be shortened either. I'm Esme Johnson," a dark girl said, unpacking her trunk next to Scarlet.

"Come on, girls, you need to go to bed," came Hermione's voice from the doorway. "You have a long day ahead of you. Trust me when I say you'll need the sleep."

"Fine, we're going," Ariella sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You can't speak to her like that, she's a prefect!" piped up Eva, looking worriedly at Hermione.

"Yes she can, they're sisters," Lottie told her.

"You're sisters with one of Harry Potter's friends?" Her face was a mask of complete and utter shock and suddenly Ariella felt shy.

"Yeah," she admitted quietly.

"That's so cool!"

Ariella smiled at her, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Hermione came to the rescue.

"Well, good night. Breakfast is at seven thirty," she added before walking out and shutting the door behind her.

A few minutes later, all five girls had washed and changed into their pyjamas. In fact, Ariella was the last to slip between the warm covers and the last to fall asleep on the soft pillow, dreaming about Hogwarts, broomsticks and spells.


	14. The First Day

**A/N: Would just like to thank LoraSwainz, rissan23, SJ Iolanthe and Moon Lantern for reviewing/following/favouriting! It means a lot.  
Here is the next chapter, enjoy it as it's unlikely there'll be another for some time due to my GCSEs starting today :S! Anyway, I'll try, but please review! :D **

As Ariella woke up the next morning, it took her a moment to comprehend where she was. She could see the light trickling in between the crimson drapes of her bed and it was then she realised that she was about to start her first day of learning magic. Completely excited, she sprung up and through the curtains, to be met with the sight of all four other girls getting dressed in their robes.

"Come on, Ella, it's nearly time we went down to breakfast," Lottie told her, slipping her new Gryffindor tie around her neck. Ariella quickly apologised and proceeded with throwing on her own uniform and hurrying down to the Great Hall to eat a very big breakfast of eggs and bacon and buttered toast with jam.

Her first lesson of the day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall and they all hurried to grab seats next to their friends in class, Ariella next to Lottie at the front of the classroom and Arcturus on the desk next to them, sitting next to a boy who introduced himself as Huey Paquet.

"Right, I am going to warn you now," Professor McGonagall started. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts and anyone messing around in my class will leave immediately and not come back."

Ariella felt a nervous tingle rise up, it seemed she definitely didn't want to get on the bad side of this teacher, even if she was their head of house. Then, with excitement brewing inside her, she listened to the older witch explaining how to turn their match into a needle before she got on with trying to do as she said, using her new ebony wand, as the severe-looking witch went round the class, helping them.

"Do you think it looks a bit pointy?" Ariella asked after half an hour, holding up her slightly grey match.

"Well, it looks better than mine. At least yours has changed to the right colour." She held up her pale blue match.

"Ah, Miss Granger, let's see how you've got on, shall we?" Professor McGonagall came up behind her, holding her hand out for the match and studying it closely when Ariella handed it over. "Not bad at all for your first lesson, just keep working at it. You can see it is slightly more pointed."

She indicated to the tip of the match before she turned to Lottie, frowning immediately. "Miss Hill! You are clearly not thinking of the needle you want it to become, otherwise it wouldn't be blue. Concentrate on what you are doing, please."

Lottie looked down sheepishly as Professor McGonagall walked away.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it," Ariella told her comfortingly. "Maybe we can practise later?"

Lottie nodded, seeming a little consoled.

The next couple of lessons, History of Magic and Charms, which Ariella didn't like quite so much as Transfiguration as she found Professor Binns incredibly boring and didn't seem quite as good at the charm they had to learn. After lunch however, was Defence Against the Dark Arts. This was one Ariella had been looking forward to until she had seen their teacher at the feast. The sight of the short stubby woman had put her off instantly and then she found out the Gryffindors were being taught alongside the Slytherins. The class was no better than she thought it was going to be, in fact, it had been worse. The moment they entered the classroom, Professor Umbridge had sat them all in alphabetical order, leaving her next to Georgiana Greengrass, who she immediately took a dislike to. It turned out she was the younger sister of Daphne and Astoria, Daphne who of which had been mentioned by Hermione on a couple of occasions. Ariella knew she was no different from any other Slytherin when she wrinkled her nose in disgust and mouthed the word Mudblood at the strawberry blonde haired girl beside her who Ariella later found out to be Phoenix Urquhart. The lesson didn't go better after that when the toad-like woman told them to put their wands away and get their books out.

"Aren't we using magic, professor?" one of the boys asked.

"Of course not!" Professor Umbridge sounded surprised. "Whatever do you need to do that for? You will get through your course adequately enough with learning the theory of it. This school has had very fragmented teaching in this subject and from now on, that is going to change. There is no need for any student to know anything else other than what's in this textbook for your year. Now if you would please turn to the first chapter and start reading."

Ariella put up her hand.

"Yes, dear?"

"I've already read the first chapter, professor," she said.

"Then read start on the second."

"But I've read that too. I've read the whole book. I was under the assumption that we would be learning the spells in class and so I researched it all beforehand. My sister told me to."

"Well, I say you should read it again as it is unlikely that you have taken it all in."

"But how are we going to be able to cast the spells?" Ariella protested.

"You won't ever need to. There is no reason for you to worry, now would you kindly get on with reading the chapter." The young girl opened her mouth to argue back. "Five points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, and if you continue to disrupt my class, then I will put you in detention."

Ariella glared at the woman's squashed up face before turning to the book in front of her.

"You should really listen to what she says, Mudblood. Don't want to get a detention on your first day, do you?" Georgiana sniffed from next to her, although quietly enough for Professor Umbridge not to hear.

"Don't you dare call her that!" hissed a voice from in front of her. Ariella smiled a thanks at Arcturus.

"Ooh, Archie, I'm sure your mother and father won't be very happy to learn that you've not only been put in a house full of Mudbloods, but are defending one too," Georgiana smirked.

Ariella wanted nothing more than to rip her face off as Arcturus' face turned a sickly shade of white. "Leave him alone, at least he's not one stuck-up little prat like you are!"

When she stopped, everybody was looking at her and she realised that maybe she had let herself speak a little too loudly.

"Detention, Miss Granger. Five o'clock, my office, tonight and tomorrow. I will not allow such behaviour in my class." She gave a little giggle as she turned back to her marking, leaving Ariella glowering at her intensely. It was as though she was happy she had given out a detention.

She spent the rest of the lesson staring out of the window angrily, her book open on the chapter she had already read. It seemed to take ages for the bell to ring, but when it finally did, Ariella's mood was no better.

The last lesson of the day was double Herbology and that wasn't particularly exciting either. Well, not for Ariella. Lottie loved it. It was a subject she knew about as it seemed her Mum was really into plants and so she could answer the questions. However, Ariella just stared moodily at Professor Sprout as she went on about some kind of plant that had to be grown in careful conditions otherwise it would grow ridiculously fast and fill a whole room in a matter of an hour.

When Ariella went down for dinner with Lottie and Arcturus at four o'clock so she could be ready for her detention at five, she was surprised to find her sister, Harry and Ron already down there. That surprise turned to annoyance as she realised her sister was not going to be happy when she found out she'd got a detention on the first day of school.

"Which one of you has a detention?" was the first thing she demanded at the three first years.

"Me," Ariella replied grumpily, sitting down on a bench next to her.

"Ariella, it's the first day of school! Who with?"

"Professor Umbridge."

"What on Earth did you get it for? Harry's got one too."

"It wasn't her fault," Arcturus butted in. "That Greengrass girl called her a Mudblood and then insulted me when I tried to back her up. Ella stood up to her, but Umbridge heard."

"That's utterly ridiculous," Hermione said, looking slightly more pleased that her sister hadn't done something really bad.

"Yeah well, there's nothing she can do about it. It's only detention, right?" Ron said.

Ariella nodded.

"I suppose so," she agreed. However, nothing could have prepared them for the detention they were going to get.


	15. The Detention

**A/N: Just to warn you, but my laptop broke again :( but I do have the story on a memory stick, however, my parents use the main computer a lot so I don't know how much I'll be able to write until it's fixed :(  
Anyway, I just want to thank koffeejinx, Gril4Life, rianneck13, rosiehorgan7, ellietaylor1253, Moon Lantern, Gruffard and SJ Iolanthe for reviewing/favouriting/following. It's so nice to see that people are enjoying this :D **

At five minutes to five, Ariella and Harry said goodnight to their friends and went up to Professor Umbridge's office together. Ariella could feel her nerves jittering, but didn't say anything as they stopped outside the freshly painted pink door.

"Are you okay, Ella?" Harry asked as he reached out to knock.

"Yes, I'm fine." She could tell Harry knew she was lying, but was grateful that he let it pass and continued with rapping against the door.

"Come in," came Professor Umbridge's sickly sweet voice. Harry entered first. "Ah, Mr Potter, Miss Granger. You're both going to be doing some lines for me today." She indicated to two desks, each draped in pink lacy covers besides which she'd drawn up to straight backed chairs. Each table had a blank piece of parchment on, waiting for them.

"Um, Professor. Er… before we start, I… I… wanted to ask you, well, ask you a favour," Harry stuttered.

Ariella swallowed as the lady's eyes bulged at Harry, making her look uglier than ever.

"Oh yes?"

"Well, I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was… was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it… do it another night instead…"

"Oh no," said Professor Umbridge, smiling so widely she looked like she'd swallowed a really juicy fly. "Oh no, no, no, no. Both of you will serve the detentions I set you, they are punishments and cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. You, Mr Potter, will be here at five o'clock, tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that and on Friday too. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you. Now will both of you please sit down."

Ariella nervously went over to one of the chairs and sat, Harry on the other hand, hesitated a bit, as though he wanted to shout something back at her, thankfully, he didn't and moved across to sit next to Ariella.

"Now, Mr Potter, you will write _I must not tell lies_," she said softly. "No, not with your quill. No, instead, you will be using a rather special one of mine." She handed him one of the two thin black quills in her hand, ones that had extremely sharp points at the end, before turning to Ariella. "Now, you, my dear, will be writing, _I must not insult my betters._" She put the quill down on the desk. "You may start."

Ariella glared at her as she turned away, she knew what that meant. It didn't mean betters as in pupils and teachers, no, it meant muggleborns and purebloods. She was talking about Georgiana Greengrass.

"How many times do you want us to write it?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I'd say… as long as it takes for the message to… _sink in_."

As Ariella set down to write, she realised she was missing ink, but before she could open her mouth to say anything, Harry got it out first.

"Oh, you won't need ink," the woman said, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.

Ariella looked back down at the parchment and carefully started to write, although she was startled when the ink came out a bright red. It didn't take long, however, for her to notice the tingling on the back of her right hand. She put the quill down and rubbed it before finishing the sentence. The tingling didn't stop. In fact, it got worse, developing into a stinging pain that was so bad it made her eyes water.

She looked over at Harry and saw that he was clearly feeling it too from the way he was gritting his teeth. As she watched, he let out a gasp of pain and looked at his hand. Ariella saw something fade and looked down at her own hand. All that was there was a faint red outline. And if she looked closely, she could see it was a faint red outline of the words _I must not insult my betters_.

Her head jerked up to look at Professor Umbridge. She was watching them, her toad-like mouth stretched into a smirk.

"Yes?" she asked in her high pitched squeak.

"Nothing," Ariella answered quietly and went back to her work.

She placed the quill on the parchment and wrote. Once more, the pain started, this time worse than before. The words appeared on her skin and once more faded a few seconds later. It happened again. And again. And again. Ariella was trying her hardest not to let tears escape as she continued to cut her hand open with every word she wrote. She could feel the woman's eyes on her, watching for any sign of weakness and wasn't prepared to give in.

Darkness came and still Umbridge didn't allow them to stop. Ariella didn't dare ask and it seemed Harry didn't either, so they continued. Ariella reckoned she must have written over two or three feet by the time Umbridge told them to stop.

"Come here," she said.

The two of them stood up. Ariella glanced at her stinging hand. The words were faintly etched into her hand, but it wasn't bleeding.

"Hand," she ordered.

Harry extended it and Umbridge examined it closely, although Ariella could see his hand was nowhere near as bad as her own. "Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made an impression yet, Mr Potter" she said, smiling. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow, won't we? You may go."

Harry moved away from the table and went to pick up his bag.

"Hand, Miss Granger."

Ariella flinched when Professor Umbridge's stubby hand took her own and traced a finger over the words.

"Well, that is much better than Mr Potter's in any case. However, I still think we can etch the message a little deeper, don't you think? It would do no good to have you forget it now, would it?" Ariella shook her head. "Well then, I think you can go."

The young witch went and picked up her bag before leaving, finally able to let the tears of pain escape.

"Ella, are you okay?" Harry's voice came from the shadows, making the young girl jump and immediately wipe her eyes of the tears there.

"Yes, I think so," she replied, trying to keep the fact she was crying from him.

"I heard her say your hand was a lot worse, it doesn't hurt too much, does it?"

"No," Ariella lied. "Can we go back to the common room? I'm tired."

"Yeah, it's this way." Harry indicated down the corridor.

"Don't tell Hermione about this, please. I don't want her to worry or fuss," Ariella added as they walked down the hallway.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to, she'll try and convince me to go to McGonagall or something."

"Thank you."

Neither of them spoke after that, apart from to say goodnight after they clambered in through the hole behind the portrait. Ariella wearily climbed up to her dormitory and, seeing that all the girls were asleep, she quietly changed and slipped into bed, eventually drifting off.


	16. Potions

**A/N: Sorry, this one is not my best chapter, but I thought I'd better update. I just can't write filler chapters :( I would really appreciate feedback!**  
**Anyway, thanks to Moon Lantern, Angelique Collins and SJ Iolanthe for reviewing/favouriting! :D**

When Ariella woke up the next day, her hand was throbbing painfully. Reluctantly, she cast a glance down at it, only to see it swollen and sore and the words nearly gone. She knew she was going to have to keep it a secret. It would do her no good for anyone to know and she certainly didn't want any fuss.

"Ella, how was your detention?" Lottie asked, coming up to the side of the bed and making Ariella shift to hide her hand.

"As good as detentions go, I suppose."

"What did she make you do?"

"Lines."

"That's not too bad, I mean, she could have made you do worse, right? I thought she would make you do something like scrubbing the floors until your hands bled or something."

Ariella tried to laugh, but Lottie's prediction had been too close to the truth for her to let her guard down.

"Come on, you'd better get up, the others have already gone down to breakfast, I said I'd wait for you." It was then Ariella noticed that her friend was fully dressed.

"Oh, you could have woken me up sooner; I didn't want to be the last again!"

"Oh, sorry," Lottie apologised as Ariella jumped up from the bed and rushed around, tugging a brush through her curls and disappearing into the bathroom to throw on her clothes. "We stayed up until nearly midnight for you, but you hadn't returned so we decided to let you sleep in a bit. We won't do it tomorrow if you don't want to."

"Thank you, I really don't like being late," she called from the bathroom.

A few minutes later she reappeared, washed and dressed and so the two girls went down to join the others.

* * *

The Gryffindors' first lesson of the day was Potions with the Sytherins, something Ariella and her friends weren't looking forward to, knowing that Professor Snape was Head of Slytherin and had a particular dislike for Gryffindors. Arcturus particularly wasn't looking forward to it and only Ariella knew why. She could sense his nerves already and so changed the conversation topic to help take his mind off it as they walked down to the dungeons.

However, as they entered, Snape was already there, his greasy hair hanging just above his shoulders, his mouth pulled up into an ugly smirk.

"Avery," he said before Arcturus even had the chance to walk into the classroom. "At Hogwarts, we do not dress like animals. Five points from Gryffindor, and tuck your shirt in before I take off another five," he added as Arcturus walked past, clearly trying to ignore him.

Ariella looked around and saw that most of the Slytherins had their shirts untucked but had not had any points taken away. She wanted to complain and stick up her friend, who was furiously doing what Snape had asked, yet she knew better than to protest and draw attention to herself. It seemed Snape's favouritism was already kicking in.

Sitting down at a bench in between Lottie and Arcturus, Ariella got out her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions and set it out on the desk as Snape strode to the front of the classroom and addressed the class.

"In this lesson, you will be brewing potions and tomorrow, we will start with a simple draft. However, today, I will introduce you to the most popular ingredients used in potions," he started, and then smiled. "But first, who can tell me what a bezoar is used for?"

Nobody raised their hands. Not even Ariella. She knew she had read it somewhere, it was on the tip of her tongue. Something to do with healing maybe? Or maybe it was a poison? No, it certainly wasn't that.

"Miss Granger? If you are like your know-it-all sister, then you should know."

Ariella felt a blush creep up her cheeks. She should know, but she wasn't as good as Hermione, she couldn't remember everything off the top of her head from reading it once. She could recognise the name, she could even picture the page, but not what it was used for.

"No? A Granger doesn't know the answer to a simple question such as that? Perhaps you need a little help from a friend. Do you know what a bezoar is used for, Avery?"

Ariella felt Arcturus tense beside her from the attention, yet he stayed silent.

"Your parents won't be too pleased, will they, Avery? That you don't know the answer to such a simple question," he drawled, making the Slytherins snicker quietly.

"Leave him alone! No one knows the answer; you can't just pick on us!" Ariella snapped, sick of seeing her friend so humiliated.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger. You will not shout out in my class."

Ariella curled her hands into fists, ready to argue back when Lottie put a hand on her arm.

"He only wants you to reply, Ella. Don't give him the satisfaction," she whispered.

The young witch realised she was right and swallowed her anger, instead settling for glaring at him intensely as he smirked at her.

"A bezoar is used as a cure for poisons. I would have expected that if any of you had a chance of doing well at this subject, you would have already known that. Potions is a complex subject, not for silly wand waving, but for ensnaring the senses, brewing glory, even putting a stopper on death. However, there will be only a select few who master this art, and those I will allow onto NEWT level. They may seem far in the distance of your insignificant lives, but if you don't show me now, there is next to no chance of seeing if you have a talent."

And on he drawled, in the same low tone for the rest of the lesson. At one point, Ariella felt Lottie start to lean heavily on her and nudged her, causing her to jump in her seat.

The end of the lesson wasn't any better as Snape decided he wanted a foot long essay on the uses of bezoars for the next day, at which point, everyone groaned, including the Slytherins, and ended up leaving the classroom with a warning that if it wasn't done then they would be in detention with him for a week, no excuses.

However, after a reasonably boring History of Magic lesson and lunch, they had their first flying lesson with the Ravenclaws which everyone was looking forward to. Ariella didn't find a new talent in it, that was for sure, but she was happy when Madam Hooch told her that with practice, she wouldn't be a bad flier at all. She was especially pleased when she was told she was a better flier than Hermione was. It took her mind off the fact she still had another detention with Professor Umbridge that evening and a foot long essay to write for Professor Snape after that.


	17. The Second Detention

**A/N: Thanks to SJ Iolanthe and Moon Lantern for reviewing the last chapter :)  
Please don't foregt to leave your thoughts in a review. It does really mean a lot to me!**

Once again that evening, Ariella met with Harry in the Great Hall to eat early before they set off to Professor Umbridge's room for their detention. Neither said much as they walked up to Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom apart from to remind each other that no one else was to know what their detentions actually consisted of.

"Ah, there you are," the toad-like woman said as they knocked and entered. "Back to what you were doing yesterday please, you two." She indicated to the two desks laid out with the quills and parchment.

After a quick glance at Harry, Ariella went to sit down at the desk she was at the day before, yet she couldn't help but notice that there was another desk set up exactly the same on the other side of the room. She frowned, and then looked at Harry again, but he didn't seem to have noticed for he was too busy setting down his bag next to his desk so it wouldn't fall over. So, pushing it from her mind, Ariella looked back down at her own desk, placed the quill on the parchment and began to write.

Like the day before, the back of her hand started to tingle as she wrote, but she soon found that the pain came back a lot quicker than it had done the day before and a sneaky look at her hand told her that it wasn't just her imagination. The words were clearly spelt out on the back of her hand, not quite bleeding, but already blood red. They weren't fading either. She stopped writing for a few moments, the sting having made her wince in pain, but as soon as Umbridge looked up, her eyes snapped back to the page in front of her, not willing to take the chance of another detention.

"Taking a break, are we, Miss Granger?" her squeaky voice asked.

"No, professor," Ariella replied innocently.

"Good, then I don't expect to catch you looking up again."

However, her concentration was broken again a few minutes later when there came a knock on the door and a girl with frizzy black hair and freckles stepped into the room.

"Miss Vane, is there a reason you are so late?" Umbridge squeaked at her.

The girl stared at her arrogantly. "I had homework," she replied.

"You do your homework after the detention, Miss Vane. Sit yourself down, you're going to be doing lines for me today."

Ariella paused in her writing and looked up, curious as to what was going on, only to find herself caught in the gaze of the muddy, brown eyes belonging to Professor Umbridge.

"Better not let me catch you slacking, Miss Granger," she warned again, and Ariella jumped back to her lines, not daring to listen to any more of their conversation.

Hours later, she and Harry were called up for Umbridge to check their hands once more.

"I think the message has sunk in now, don't you, Miss Granger?" she said to Ariella, examining the letters that were bleeding profusely on the back of her hand. The young witch took a sharp intake of breath as the older woman let her pudgy fingers brush over the wound, not caring how much pain she was inflicting. "I only hope this has taught you a lesson."

"Yes, Professor," Ariella replied quietly.

"Good, well I don't expect you to end up back here. You may go."

The young witch left the room, not even sparing the other girl there a glance. She was just glad to get out. Her hand was throbbing painfully and she really didn't know what she was going to do with it.

"Ella, let me see your hand," Harry's voice came through the darkness.

"Harry, I'm fine," she started and then let out a little cry of pain when he grabbed her hand.

"No, you're not," he said. "You can't go without sleep and if mine hurts, yours is going to be hurting even more."

"Harry, it's fine, I still have to do an essay for Snape yet. It will have stopped hurting by then."

"You can't do an essay at this time of night!"

"I have to," Ariella retorted and stalked off in the direction of the common room, biting her lip to try and take her mind off the pain. Harry followed.

However, when they reached the common room, they got a big shock. There, sitting in the armchairs in front of the long-died-out fire were Ron, Hermione, Arcturus and Lottie.

"What are you doing up?" Ariella asked in horror as she clambered through the portrait hole and stopped, making Harry push her out the way to get in.

"Lottie said you had an essay for Snape due tomorrow that you haven't done yet, so we're going to help you, we got the books out," Arcturus explained.

"But we also noticed that you two have been acting a bit funny today," Hermione added. "What did she make you do?"

"Lines," both Harry and Ariella growled at the same time.

"Then why is there blood on your jumper, Ariella?"

"What?" Ariella looked down. "Oh, yeah, I cut myself on the way up here."

"Let me see then, I can heal it for you," Hermione said, clearly not believing her sister.

"I can heal it myself!" Ariella lied, digging herself into an even bigger hole.

"You've only being doing magic for two days. You don't know how to heal it yourself yet, you don't learn until just before Christmas in charms," Hermione said matter-of-factly and walked over, grabbing hold of her younger sister's wrist before she could pull away. Pulling back her sleeve, she suddenly gasped. "Ella! Why haven't you told anyone? She's torturing you!"

"This is why I didn't want you to know, Mione, I knew you would make a fuss." She yanked her wrist free and glared at her sister.

"But, Ella–!"

"No, Hermione, this cannot leave this room," Harry interjected.

"Professor McGonagall will know what to do, we can–"

"No, we can't. What could she do? Professor Umbridge has too much power in this school and that's likely to only get bigger with the Ministry behind her. You know that, Hermione."

She glared at Harry. "Fine, but I'm not happy about this. I thought you would have been more responsible, Harry, she's a first year and you didn't tell anyone! That's ridiculously irresponsible! Now tell me how she did this so I can heal it."

"She gave us a quill and told us to write lines," Ariella explained.

"The ink?"

"We didn't have any."

"Wait, so you wrote in your own blood?" Lottie put in before anyone else could. Everyone looked horrified. Ariella swallowed.

Hermione looked grave. "I've heard of those quills," she said. "I read about them last year. The marks they leave can't be healed. I thought that they were supposed to be illegal."

"Yet the Ministry seems to be supplying them for punishments for underage wizards and witches?" Arcturus asked.

"I don't think the Ministry knows about them. I can't imagine Fudge allowing such dark objects in a school. He'd be worried that people would get hold of them turn them into weapons against the Ministry," Hermione replied.

"What, killer quills?" Lottie giggled.

"If someone has the brains, then they'd be able to bewitch them to do such things. Now, I think I have something in my chambers that would help with the pain." And with that, she disappeared up the steps.

"You guys can go to bed, I'm fine. I can do this essay with Hermione's help," Ariella told Lottie and Arcturus when Lottie let out a large yawn.

"Are you sure, Ella? We've both done it, you can have our essays if you want?" Arcturus offered.

"It's alright, my sister will help me. I'll see you tomorrow."

Arcturus smiled before both him and Lottie went up the stairs to their dormitories. Ariella looked awkwardly at Harry and Ron before going to sit down at the table where a high pile of books were sat beside a foot of parchment and a quill and ink, all ready for her. She didn't dare ask the boys for help. From what she had heard from Hermione, they weren't the best of students, especially Ron. Instead, she picked up a book and started to read.


	18. The Hogwarts High Inquisitor

**A/N: I apologise, it's kind of a filler chapter, but please let me know what you think. Next update might be slow as I'm going on holiday for two weeks on Saturday.  
Thanks to Moon Lantern, SJ Iolanthe, grangergal101 for reviewing/following/favouriting :)**

The rest of the first week passed quite quickly, leaving Ariella with not a lot of free time for herself. In fact, she ended up with a lot more homework than she thought possible on Sunday night and woke up the next morning on the common room table next piles of books and her two best friends, who were both still fast asleep.

Then she realised with a jolt that it was Monday and that they should be going down for breakfast. The fact the common room was empty showed that everyone else must already have gone. Nice for them to wake us up, she thought grumpily before yawning and getting up.

"Lottie, Archie?" Ariella moved round the table, shaking them both gently. "It's Monday. We need to get ready for lessons."

Arcturus was the first to stir, stretching and rubbing his eyes. "Wait, what?" he asked suddenly, looking around at his surroundings and then at his friend, looking for an explanation.

"We must have fallen asleep doing our homework last night. I woke here too. But it's Monday, we need to get ready and go down for breakfast otherwise we'll miss it and have to wait for lunch. I can't wait that long."

"Oh." He stood up. "Did we all really fall asleep down here?" His expression made his friend laugh.

"It seems so. Do you want to go and get ready and I'll wake Lottie. Meet you down here when we're ready, okay?"

"Yeah alright. Though, good luck with waking her up, she looks dead to the world!" And with one last cheeky grin, he headed up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

* * *

It was down at breakfast when they were told. The three friends were discussing how on Earth they managed to fall asleep when they were interrupted by Hermione throwing down the newspaper in front of her sister.

"What–?" she started to say, but Hermione interrupted her.

"Just read it. Front page."

Ariella looked down. There was the sickly sweet woman herself; grinning at the cameras next to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Above that was the massive title in bold proclaiming:

MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM

DELORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED

FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR

"What on Earth is a High Inquisitor?" was Ariella's first reaction, turning round and looking at her sister, eyebrows raised quizzically.

"It gives her more power around the school. I just read the whole article out to Harry and Ron, I'm not doing it again. If you want to know more, then read."

So Ariella read and by the time she'd finished the article, her anger was boiling over, just like her sister's.

"How dare she? And that Malfoy! As if my expectation of them could fall even lower. This is utterly ridiculous!" She slammed the paper down on the table, making half the table jump.

"Ella, calm down," Arcturus tried to soothe. "Umbridge is bound to look over this way if you keep this up and even if you want another lot of detentions, I do not."

Ariella sighed. "Sorry, Archie. I… it just really gets to me because of what she's done."

It was then that Arcturus noticed that his friend was gripping her left hand subconsciously and realised why she was getting so uptight.

"What she made you write was wrong, Ella. She had no right to say she was your better. But don't let it get to you."

"Arcturus is right. You can't let it get to you," Lottie added, in-between a mouthful of toast.

"You know I won't, but I can still hate her for being such a dreadful teacher. We haven't actually used magic in her class. No one in our entire year has!"

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think anyone in the school has used their wands in her classes, including us," Hermione put in.

"But, this is your OWL year!" Lottie protested.

"Yes, well, the woman seems to think that we will be able to do the spells easily if we read over the textbook for the whole year."

"That's ridiculous!"

"However, there doesn't seem to be a lot we can do about it. Anyway, you three better be off to your first class. Wouldn't want to be late if Umbridge is there."

It turned out Umbridge _was_ in their first class, watching Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration as they continued to try and turn their matches into needles.

"So, so far no one has managed to succeed in this class?" the toad-like woman asked as she trotted round behind the strict woman.

"They are all doing extremely well. Transfiguration is an extremely hard subject and takes most people the first half term to get the hang of it."

"So, I'll take that as a no then," Professor Umbridge said to herself and then scribbled something down on her bright pink clipboard.

Just at that moment, a cry of triumph erupted out of Ariella. Everyone fell silent and turned towards the young girl, who was holding her bright silver needle in the air.

"Ah, it seems Miss Granger has managed it." There was a smirk in her voice as she went over to Ariella and plucked the needle from her grasp to inspect it. "Yes, very good. It seems you are nearly as talented as your sister in this subject. Although, next time, I would appreciate it if you didn't call out in my class."

"Sorry, Professor." Ariella knew the strict woman didn't really mind as she was smiling and clearly partly only told her off due to Professor Umbridge being in the room.

"You may have to change your notes, Delores, it seems we do have a success in the class."

Ariella bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud, she could hear Lottie sniggering next to her as Umbridge held her head up haughtily and once more wrote on her clipboard.

"Well. I think that is all I need," she continued. "You will get your results of the inspection in ten days' time." And with that, she walked out of the classroom, her tiny heels clicking along the floor as she exited the room.

"This is getting ridiculous, you know. She's going to end up with more power than Dumbledore himself at this rate," Arcturus whispered as the door clanged shut behind the toad-like woman.

"Tell me about it," Ariella replied, rolling her eyes. "We need to do something. And fast."

"Like what, Ella? We're only first years, what are we going to do against the Ministry of Magic?" Lottie put in, still concentrating on attempting to turn her match into a needle.

"We need someone to teach us how to do the Defence Against the Dark Arts spells. We need to be able to defend ourselves. We know what's out there."

"Well, we can't ask Harry, we don't know him well enough."

"My sister can ask him. She won't mind, in fact, she'll probably support it as she'll want to use it to get good grades."

At that moment, Professor McGonagall clapped her hands to gain the attention of the class.

"That's it for today. You have all done extremely well, but your homework is to practice this spell as I would like for more of you to be able to accomplish it by half term. Class dismissed."

* * *

That evening, Ariella cornered Hermione in the common room to ask about Harry.

"Wait, so you want me to ask Harry to teach us defence spells?" the elder Granger asked, thinking it through in her head.

"Yes," Ariella replied. "I mean he has come across You-Know-Who and his followers more times than I can count on one hand and got away reasonably unscathed. Please, Mione, it will help with your grades too!" She knew pulling that out of the bag would help persuade her sister. She was right.

"I didn't say I wouldn't. In fact, I think it's a brilliant idea. I'm just annoyed that I didn't think of it before."

"So you will?"

"Yes, I'll ask him when I see him, alright?" Hermione said, turning back to the pile of books on the table in front of her. "I'm pretty sure I heard you complaining to Lottie about how much homework you had to do this evening, don't you need to be doing it instead of continuing to bother me," she added as Ariella opened her mouth to say something else.

Rolling her eyes, she nodded and strode off, heading towards where her roommates were crowding round a tiny piece of table, desperately attempting to finish their homework before their astronomy class that evening.

"She'll do it," she whispered into Lottie's ear she sat down next to her.

Lottie looked up, surprised. "Really?"

Ariella smirked. "Yes, but now all we have to do is wait for her to get round to it," she said.


	19. The Strange Dream

**A/N: I must say, the first part of this was so fun to write! Anyway, I want to thank Jasmyn26128975, rissan23, Purplette237, Moon Lantern and S.J Iolanthe for reviewing/favouriting/following while I've been away, it means so much to me! :D **

_The woman was sat in the corner of her cell, her unruly, black curls cascading over her face, her heavy-lidded eyes following the cracks in the cold, stone floor._

_She spent every morning like this, those small few seconds when she wasn't quite so insane, when the dementors weren't hovering by her cell, sucking the happiness out of her. Those small few seconds that she could spend sparing a thought for her daughter; her Slytherin daughter, living well off in a rich, pureblood household, knowing and proud of the fact that she was the child of the Dark Lord's first lieutenant. She smiled to herself. At least one Lestrange was living happily. _

_Then, suddenly, interrupting the moment of peace, there came the sound of footsteps, the guard's footsteps, walking slowly up the corridor; big, heavy footsteps that echoed through the passageway. The moment was over._

_The woman jumped up, sauntering over to the bars and leaning casually against them. Her eyes seemed to gleam with malice as she grinned. Time to play a game. Her favourite game._

_"Hey, pretty boy," she smirked as the guard came closer to her cell._

_He seemed to get more apprehensive at passing her, moving right over to the opposite side of the narrow passageway as he slid past. Then the woman realised something, this was a new boy. It certainly wasn't the normal prison warden that came past every day. This made her smirk even more. Now she was going to have some fun._

_"Nothing for me?" she asked him, pouting a little. He didn't answer. He'd clearly been warned about her, but the woman wasn't about to give up. "I asked you a question, iddy boy,"_

_The man stopped and turned to look at her, eyes flashing angrily. "Shut up, Lestrange!"_

_"Oh, is the pwetty boy angry wiv little, old Bewatrix?" she asked before letting out a loud cackle._

_"I said shut up!"_

_"Oh, I know, I'm not deaf, pretty boy, I heard you." She smirked even more. _

_"Then do as I ask or I'll send for the dementors." _

_This one had spirit, she thought to herself, well more than the last one had done. Nobody spoke to her like that. Nobody. Her smirk fell into a feral scowl, and she let out a small snarl, as though she was about to pounce and through the bars and claw his throat out._

_"Do you even know who I am? I am a member of the house of Black. A pureblood, and you should speak to me with respect!"_

_The man walked right up to the bars. "Well, guess what," he said. "I don't care. You may be a pureblood, but you are also a convicted murderer and torturer. You deserve to rot in Hell!"_

_This time the woman really did pounce, her claw-like fingernails reaching through the bars to gouge his eyes out._

_The man merely stepped out of harm's way and whipped his wand out._

_"Perhaps you do need some time with the dementors," he taunted, before flicking his wand and sending the crazed prisoner backwards, her head rapping hard against the stone wall, making everything spin for a moment before blackness enclosed her._

Ariella woke suddenly, sitting up with a gasp.

"Ella, Ella, are you okay?" Scarlet hurried over to her bedside.

"Yeah, I think so, just a bad dream, that's all."

"Are you sure? Do you want to tell me about it? My mum always says that's the best thing to do when you have a nightmare."

Ariella smiled at Scarlet reassuringly. "I'm fine, it just scared me a little. There was a woman in a prison, but I have never seen her in my life before and… I don't know, it just…"

"Azkaban?"

Ariella frowned. "What?"

"Was it Azkaban, the wizarding prison?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of it."

"I thought your sister might have mentioned it, but it seems she hasn't. I've never been personally, but I've been told it's colder and darker than any other prison. It's on a small island were the seas are apparently very rough. And then there are the dementors."

"I've heard of those… the man mentioned them. The man in my dream, the prison warden." Ariella shivered slightly.

"How did you have a dream about somewhere you've never known about before? Is that even possible?" Scarlet asked, frowning. "And who was this woman? The only woman I know that's in Azkaban is Bellatrix Lestrange."

Ariella looked at her friend in horror. "That was the woman! She called herself Bellatrix," she exclaimed and then bit her lip. "But, I don't understand, how can I have dreams about people and places I don't know of? Surely that isn't normal."

"Perhaps it's an after effect of something? Magic can do strange things to people and you haven't been around it for very long. If you're worried, I'm sure you could go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey may be able to help you."

"True, but I think I'll see if I have another one before I do that. It's probably a lot of fuss over nothing," Ariella said. "But thank you for letting me talk to you about it. Your mum was right, it really does help."

Scarlet smiled. "You're welcome. We'd probably best be getting up, it looks like we're the late risers today. The others are probably down doing their homework in the common room."

* * *

As soon as the two girls were ready, they headed down to join their friends in the common room. However, before Ariella could even sit down, she was pulled aside by a very eager Hermione.

"He agreed," she whispered excitedly. "And we put around the school about a meeting yesterday in the Hog's Head and it turns out that a lot of people are interested in Harry teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts. So many people turned up, even I was surprised! So if you and your friends want to join us, I'll let you know when and where the first meeting is."

"He actually agreed to all this?" Ariella asked in shock. She had been certain that he'd have been modest and denied the fact he had done such things.

"Yes, well, after a bit of persuading from Ron and myself, but are you interested?"

"Yes, of course I am! And I'm sure all the Gryffindors in my year will be too. I'll go and mention it now." She went to walk away, but Hermione grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"The more you can get to come, the better," she whispered. "Harry doesn't think that people will be interested, despite the fact about twenty signed up in the Hog's Head yesterday. We need to give him a bit of a morale boost."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they come." And with that, Hermione watched as her younger sister made her way over to the table and started talking to her friends, proud of the fact she was fitting in so well.


	20. Educational Decree Number Twenty Four

**A/N: Thanks to Moon Lantern, GeographicallyDisplaced, ChiyukiLuvs2Glomp and EpicSouls for reviewing/favouriting/following!**

However, it seemed that the next day, the three friends were in for a shock. When they went down to the common room, Lottie noticed that there several people grouped around the noticeboard and on wandering over, she let out a cry of annoyance.

"What is it, Lottie?" Ariella asked, rushing over, but Lottie didn't even need to say anything. The answer was right there in front of her. "You've got to be joking!" she cried, for, there, in the middle of the board in big letters read: Educational Decree No.24. However, it wasn't the fact that there was yet another Educational Decree that was annoying them. No, it was what the Decree was, for it was stating that all clubs and societies were to be disbanded and they were to get permission from Umbridge herself to restart.

"There's no way she'll allow ours! Hermione's going to be furious. This can't be a coincidence," Ariella continued, flopping down into one of the armchairs in front of the long-burned out fire while they waited for Arcturus to come down.

"I know, she has eyes everywhere, but this is getting beyond ridiculous. It's like what Archie said the other day, she's soon going to have more power around here than Dumbledore himself!"

"What's wrong, you two? Your faces are as long as long as a fiddle." Ariella jumped at the sound of Arcturus' voice behind her.

"Don't do that! I nearly jumped out of my skin," she scolded as he came round to face them, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Tell me what's bothering you then."

"It's Umbridge. She's set up another Educational Decree," Lottie told him.

Arcturus sighed and sat down on the arm of Lottie's chair.

"What is it this time?" he asked. "Something bad I presume."

"All clubs are to be disbanded and permission must be asked from her to form them again. We'll never get away with it. We were just saying that she must have found out somehow. This is just too much of a coincidence with the fact the meeting was held on Saturday."

Arcturus pursed his lips in thought. "I agree with you," he said slowly. "But if this is true, we're going to have to tread very carefully. Harry and Ron will want to continue with it and knowing them, I'm sure they will probably persuade Hermione too. But it's just where to do it without being caught… Oh look, here they come now."

The three friends watched as Harry, Ron and Hermione went up to the noticeboard and Ariella bit her lip as her sister frowned and her two friends both rolled their eyes, their shoulders slumping.

"Perhaps I should go over and say something?" Ariella said, still watching them as they walked away from the noticeboard, deep in discussion.

However, before either one of her friends could answer, the trio had spotted them and headed over. Hermione spoke first.

"I'm assuming you've read the new notice?" she said.

"What are we going to do now? I mean, she's not going to let us do it, is she?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What do you think? Of course she isn't! She already hates us as it is. The whole reason for the new rule was to stop something like this. The Ministry are scared of Dumbledore raising an army against them and it seems she's trying to stop that happening."

"That's stupid, Dumbledore would never do that!" Lottie chipped in.

"Yes, well Fudge seems to have got into his head that Dumbledore wants to be Minister of Magic and is raising an army to take over the Ministry."

Ariella bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud, whilst Lottie and Arcturus' jaws dropped open.

"Seriously?" Arcturus asked. "Why would he think that?"

"I expect it's to keep his mind off the topic of You-Know-Who since Dumbledore believes he's back, as do you and I, yet he doesn't want to hear it because he knows it's true and therefore is deploying tactics to continue ignoring it," Hermione said, matter-of-factly, only to be met with three confused looks. She sighed. "Pretty much, Fudge is using this to keep his mind off the fact You-Know-Who is back."

"Oh, I get it now. You could have said that in the first place, Mione, instead of confusing us all!" Ariella accused her sister.

"Yeah, well, sometimes I forget I'm talking to my sister who can't understand sophisticated language."

"Oi!" Ariella playfully punched her sister on the arm. "So how are we going to know when the first meeting is?"

"We'll find a way," she said, and with that, she walked away.

* * *

A couple of days later, Ariella was sitting with her roommates in the common room when Hermione came over to her and bent down to her ear.

"We've found somewhere to meet for Defence lessons. Seventh floor, opposite a portrait of Barney the Barmy being clubbed by the trolls, at eight o'clock, tonight. Can you remember that?"

Ariella blinked in surprise and turned round to her sister. "You've actually done it?" she asked in amazement.

"Yes, now keep your voice down! If Umbridge finds out…"

"Alright, alright, I get it. We'll be there."

"Good." And with that, Hermione walked off.

"She seemed in a bad mood," Arcturus commented as Ariella continued to stare after her sister.

Blinking, she turned back. "She's always moody." She lowered her voice. "But, they've found somewhere to meet for the Defence lessons. We're meeting on the seventh floor, opposite Barney the Barmy at eight, which means…" She looked up at the clock. "… We have five minutes before we need to go, because I have no idea where that portrait is on the seventh floor. Can you tell Lottie?"

Arcturus gave her a quick nod and then turned to whisper into his friend's ear. Lottie's face quickly turned into one of excitement as she heard before the three hastily excused themselves from the group.

"Do you think we need anything other than our wands?" Lottie asked as soon as they were out of earshot from the common room.

"No, Hermione would have said something if we did. Just stop worrying about it."

"But what if we–"

Ariella sighed, cutting her friend off. "We WON'T get caught, Lottie, don't worry. You're just being paranoid. Now, come on." She started pulling her friend out of the room until Lottie gave in and came willingly.

"Which way is it to the Seventh floor?" Arcturus asked as they mounted a staircase that started to swing round as they climbed up.

"Isn't our Charms classroom on the seventh floor? I haven't heard of the portrait Hermione mentioned though, so we'll just have to wander until we've found it," Ariella replied. "It's why I wanted to come early." She stepped off the staircase and onto the next that would take them up to their Charms classroom.

Upon getting there, they did as Ariella suggested, walking round and looking for the portrait of Barney the Barmy. It turned out they didn't even need to find it, for near to the picture was a huddle of Fifth-year Gryffindors who, after slyly looking around to check no one that shouldn't be around was there, entered through a large set of wooden doors.

"That must be it!" Lottie whispered excitedly into Ariella's ear. "And that portrait opposite must be Barney the Barmy."

"I expect it is, but we don't have time to look at it now, we'll be late, and I expect Barney will try and talk to us. He'll probably be one of those that rattles on for hours about things in 'his' day."

"I suppose so." Lottie sounded disappointed, but followed her two best friends as they walked through the double doors.


End file.
